A    MANUAL 


OF     THE 


OHIO  SCHOOL   SYSTEM; 


CONSISTING     OF 


AN  HISTORICAL  VIEW  OF  ITS  PROGRESS, 


AND     A     R EPUBLIC ATION     OF 


THE  SCHOOL  LAWS  IN  FORCE. 


BY    JAMES   W.    TAYLOR, 

AUTHOR    OF     THE     ''KABLV     HISTORY     OF    OHIO 


CINCINNATI: 
H.   W.   DERBY  &   Co. 

1857. 


LA  346 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by  H.  W.  DKEBY  <t  Co., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United 

States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  Ohio. 


IITROBUCTKW. 


THE  COMMON  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  OF  OHIO*  has  attained  such  pro 
portions,  and  has  assumed  such  features,  as  render  it  not  only 
an  object  of  vital  importance  to  citizens  of  this  State,  but  of  in 
terest  scarcely  inferior  to  the  intelligent  friends  of  education  in 
other  States. 

An  investment  of  upward  of  three  millions  of  dollars  in  perma 
nent  structures,  and  an  annual  expenditure  of  nearly  three  mill 
ions  of  dollars  —  nine  tenths  of  which  sum  last  named  is  pro 
duced  by  taxation — is  a  financial  fact  of  great  significance;  while 
the  application  of  so  munificent  a  provision,  under  the  adminis 
tration  of  thirty  thousand  school  officers  and  twenty  thousand 
teachers,  to  the  education  of  eight  hundred  thousand  youth,  is  a 
fact  transcending  all  material  considerations  by  its  relation  to  the 
moral  and  political  welfare  of  the  people. 

Ohio,  on  the  subject  of  education,  is,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  a 
Middle  State  —  holding  a  golden  mean  between  the  prejudices 
which  incumber  and  obstruct  the  progress  of  the  Atlantic  States 
and  the  unavoidable  privation  or  postponement  of  school  advan 
tages  which  the  more  Western  States  must  sustain.  Thus,  while 

*For  the  following  introductory  and  explanatory  remarks  the  Publishers 
are  indebted  to  the  late  active  and  efficient  Commissioner  of  Common 
Schools,  at  whose  suggestion  the  work  was  undertaken. 

M116186 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

the  attempt  in  New  York  to  establish  schools  exclusively  free, 
nearly  produced  a  civil  convulsion,  Ohio,  under  the  Constitution 
of  1851  and  the  Revised  Act  of  1853,  quietly  and  without  appa 
rent  opposition,  abolished  the  collection  of  tuition  fees,  and  ren 
dered  free  every  public  school  of  the  State— a  reform  from  which 
no  step  backward  need  be  apprehended. 

The  following  pages  from  the  pen  of  the  State  Librarian,  pur 
port  to  trace  from  its  feeble  beginnings,  the  successive  steps  of 
this  imposing  crusade  against  ignorance,  whose  host  of  directors, 
teachers  and  pupils  are  now  marshaled  within  the  limits  of  Ohio. 
Our  legislation  has  been  voluminous  —  presenting  a  proof  of  the 
solicitude  of  the  people  to  frame  the  best  system  of  measures  for 
the  great  object  of  popular  instruction.  In  its  progress,  a  great 
rariety  of  methods  have  been  tried;  and  it  is  desirable  that  the 
present  generation  should  be  informed,  not  only  of  what  the  law 
is,  but  of  the  nature  and  results  of  former  experiments.  The 
latter  are  often  brought  forward,  as  proposed  amendments,  and 
consume  the  time  and  distract  the  attention  of  the  General 
Assembly,  when  the  fact  of  a  previous  trial  and  abandonment,  if 
known,  would  be  promptly  decisive  of  their  fate.  The  Historical 
Outline  of  School  Legislation,  now  presented,  will  probably  prove 
advantageous  in  the  future  discussion  of  the  School  Act — and, 
if  so,  it  will  be  in  the  manner  above  indicated. 

An  attempt  has  also  been  made  to  preserve  the  recollection  of 
those  services  to  the  cause  of  education  by  the  early  men  of  the 
State,  which,  in  the  natural  course  of  events,  have  become  un 
familiar  to  the  younger  portion  of  the  community.  It  is  high 
time  that  some  effort  was  made  to  redeem  our  Ohio  Biography, 
especially  of  the  founders  of  our  State  institutions,  from  the  ob 
scurity  of  neglect. 

A  republication,  in  a  separate  form,  of  all  the  general  laws  re 
lating  to  education,  follows  the  Historical  Narrative.  This  em 
braces  every  statute,  which  controls  the  organization  of  Special 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

School  Districts  in  cities,  towns,  etc.  The  people  have  been 
furnished  with  the  General  Act  of  1853,  but  not  with  those 
enactments  "for  the  better  regulation  of  schools  in  cities  and 
incorporated  villages,'*  which  powerfully  influence  the  School  Sys 
tem  of  the  State  —  constituting,  as  they  do,  the  models  for  the 
imitation  and  emulation  of  the  townships. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  history  of  the  origin,  progress  and  present 
condition  of  the  School  System  of  Ohio,  may  serve  the  two-fold 
purpose  of  preventing  hasty  and  inconsiderate  legislation,  effecting 
radical  changes  in  the  system,  and  of  indicating  the  educational 
spirit  and  tendency  of  the  age.  By  exhibiting,  in  a  condensed 
form,  those  enactments  in  relation  to  schools  which  have  been 
fully  and  fairly  tried  and  then  repealed  because  they  failed  to 
accomplish  what  was  designed,  this  compilation,  it  is  believed, 
will  tend  to  prevent  the  re-enactment  of  those  provisions  in 
former  school  laws,  which,  for  the  want  of  efficiency,  have  been 
thus  rejected. 

It  will  also  tend  to  satisfy  the  public  mind  that  the  idea  of 
iniversal,  free  education,  is  fast  becoming  the  grand  central  idea 
(f  the  age;  that  our  System  of  Common  Schools,  to  succeed  in 
accomplishing  its  full  and  perfect  mission,  must  be  open  and  free 
t»  all  the  youth  of  the  State,  without  distinction  or  discrimination ; 
aid  that  wherever  an  individual  exists  with  capacities  and  facul 
ties  to  be  developed,  trained,  improved  and  directed,  the  avenues 
tc  knowledge  should  be  freely  opened,  and  every  facility  afforded 
tc  an  unrestricted  entrance. 

Formerly,  it  was  believed  that  the  cost  of  education  should  be 
rgarded  as  a  personal  expense,  to  be  defrayed  by  rate  bills  as- 
essed  upon  those  whose  children  attended  school.  This  principle 
"irtually  excluded  the  children  of  the  poor.  To  obviate  this 
tefect,  the  education  of  the  children  of  those  whose  pecuniary 
neans  did  not  enable  them  to  incur  the  expense  of  it  themselves, 
?as  made  to  depend  either  upon  public  charity,  or  upon  the 


Yl  INTRODUCTION. 

power  of  school  officers  to  exempt  the  indigent  from  the  payment 
of  tuition  fees.  Such  exemptions,  rendered  the  Common  Schools, 
to  some  extent,  charity  schools,  or  schools  for  the  poor,  a  feature 
which  will  disparage  every  system  of  public  instruction,  into 
which  it  is  incorporated,  because  it  is  repugnant  to  the  feelings 
of  American  citizens.  Experience  has  abundantly  demonstrated 
the  fact,  that  a  System  of  Common  Schools,  with  the  charity  prin 
ciple  engrafted  upon  it,  will  prove  inefficient,  and  fail  to  accom 
plish  the  object  at  which  it  aims,  because  it  tends  to  create  dis 
tinctions  hostile  to  the  character  and  spirit  of  our  institutions. 

Every  where,  the  conviction  seems  to  be  settling  down  upon 
the  public  mind,  that  the  free  school  principle  should  be  engrafted 
upon  our  educational  systems,  and  that  the  funds  necessary  for 
their  purpose,  should  be  provided  by  a  combination  of  State  and 
county,  or  township  tax,  to  be  equitably  levied  on  real  and  per 
sonal  property,  according  to  a  fixed  and  uniform  standard  of  val 
uation  ;  and  distributed,  in  both  cases,  according  to  the  enumera 
tion  of  youth  of  school  age. 

In  short,  the  modern  educational  doctrine  is :  "  That  the  property 
of  the  State  ought  to  educate  the  youth  of  the  State"  This  is 
regarded  as  a  sound  principle,  having  the  value  of  a  golder, 
maxim. 

It  is  a  principle  which  the  people  have,  in  effect,  incorporate( 
into  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  In  Art.  VI,  Sec.  2,  it  is  e» 
pressly  required,  that  "the  General  Assembly  shall  make  sue* 
provisions  by  taxation  or  otherwise,  as,  with  the  interest  arising 
from  the  the  School  Trust  Fund,  will  secure  a  thorough  anl 
efficient  system  of  Common  Schools  throughout  the  State." 

This    language   is   too   plain   to  be   misunderstood.      No   feebly 
system,  or  half-way  work,  will  comply  with    this  wise   and   nobh 
requisition.     But   how  is   such  a  system   to  be  maintained?     Th< 
constitution  replies,  by  "taxation,"  to  be  levied  by  "uniform  rule.' 
The  Legislature    has,  therefore,  enacted   a  school   law  establishing 


INTRODUCTION.  Vll 

a  general  system  of  free  schools,  and  imposing  for  their  support, 
upon  all  the  taxable  property  of  the  State,  a  State  School  Tax,  on 
the  broad  principle,  that  the  property  of  the  State  should  be 
charged  with  the  responsibility  of  educating  the  youth  of  the 
State.  This  system  is  based  upon  the  principle,  that  there  is  no 
security  for  a  Republic,  but  in  the  intelligence,  wisdom,  and 
virtue  of  the  people ;  that  "  the  power  of  self-defense,  and  self- 
protection,  the  power  to  cultivate  and  strengthen  the  powers  of 
its  own  being,  to  improve  its  own  nature,  belongs  as  much  to 
every  government  as  to  every  man,"  and  that  the  State  is  even 
more  deeply  and  permanently  interested  in  the  education  of  its 
children  than  their  parents. 

But  it  is  sometimes  urged  by  those  who  do  not  seem  inclined 
to  take  a  very  comprehensive  view  of  this  matter,  that  the  prop 
erty  of  the  State  ought  to  be  no  more  bound  to  educate  the 
youth  of  the  State  than  to  clothe  and  feed  them.  This  assertion 
embraces  a  sentiment,  which,  if  not  traceable  to  selfishness  or  an 
unphilanthrophic  disposition,  is,  at  least,  as  unpatriotic  as  it  is 
inconsistent  with  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  and  the  rising 
generation.  It  is  mind  that  makes  the  man,  and  not  dollars. 
And  hence  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  the  mental  and 
physical  wants  of  our  children.  They  have  not  the  ability  to 
judge  of  their  mental  needs,  nor  have  they  the  power  or  the  dis 
position,  if  left  to  themselves,  to  provide  for  such  needs. 

It  is  not  denied  that  every  parent  is  under  obligation  to  pro 
vide,  according  to  his  means,  for  the  education  of  his  children; 
but  since  all  have  not  the  means,  and  some  have  not  the  disposi 
tion,  the  State  should  provide  a  system  of  free  Common  Schools, 
and  declare  that  the  expense  of  it  shall  be  borne  by  the  aggre 
gate  of  taxable  property  within  its  limits. 

In  many  instances,  parents  regard  the  mental  culture  of  their 
children  as  a  matter  of  but  secondary  importance,  if  they  do  not 
treat  it  with  total  neglect.  What  would  soon  be  the  mental  and 


INTRODUCTION. 

moral  condition  of  our  population,  were  the  State  to  discontinue 
her  parental  care  and  guardianship  of  our  free  Common  Schools? 
This  question  is  sufficiently  answered  by  referring  to  the  be 
nighted  condition  of  the  masses  in  those  States  and  countries 
where  no  system  of  free  schools  has,  as  yet,  been  established. 

The  truth  is,  the  State,  as  such,  has  a  vital  interest  in  this 
matter  of  popular  education ;  and  is  bound  in  her  sovereign 
capacity,  to  look  to  it.  All  her  youth  have  a  God-given  right  to 
an  education — to  such  an  education,  moral,  and  mental,  as  con 
stitutes  a  perfect  manhood;  and,  therefore,  they  have  a  claim,  not 
only  upon  their  parents,  and  the  State,  but  upon  the  entire  prop 
erty  of  the  State,  to  furnish  them  with  all  the  requisite  facilities 
for  attaining  to  such  a  degree  of  intellectual  culture  as  will  ena 
ble  them  rightly  to  comprehend  their  duties  and  relations  to  God, 
to  the  State,  and  to  their  fellow-men. 

It  is  not  territory,  or  wealth,  that  constitutes  a  great  and  pow 
erful  State.  It  is  well  educated  men ;  a  population,  honest,  indus 
trious,  intelligent.  Is  it  not,  then,  as  much  the  duty  of  the  State 
to  establish  a  general  system  of  free  schools,  as  it  is  to  establish 
courts  of  justice  ?  As  a  matter  of  public  policy,  the  one  is  as 
necessary  as  the  other.  Yet,  it  is  not  contended  that  free  schools 
should  be  made  a  branch  of  the  government ;  but  it  is  maintained 
that  a  republican  form  of  government  can  not  long  be  sustained 
without  them.  This  important  fact  has  been,  within  a  few  years, 
sufficiently  illustrated  in  France.  All  true  patriotism,  and  all  true 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  must  be  based  upon  popular  intelli 
gence  and  virtue. 

Ignorance,  superstition,  and  oppression,  whose  elements  of  power 
enable  the  few  to  "lord  it  over  the  many,"  are  old  associates,  and 
the  implacable  enemies  of  free  institutions.  But  in  this  country, 
as  long  as  the  governed  are  their  own  governors,  and  free  Common 
Schools  are  maintained  by  State  authority,  and  rendered  accessible 
to  the  children  of  the  poor  as  well  as  of  the  rich,  there  can  be  no 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

danger  of  a  concentration  of  power  in  the  hands  of  irresponsible 
persons,  nor  will  corrupt  influences  creep  into  the  Republic  and 
control  its  destinies.  Let  our  Common  Schools  be  free,  and  the 
people  will  be  free. 

What  is  the  object  of  government,  but  the  benefit  of  the  gov 
erned?  What  is  the  true,  legitimate  motive  for  imposing  taxes 
of  any  kind,  but  the  security,  the  prosperity,  and  the  happiness  of 
the  people?  Why  should  a  State  School  Tax,  then,  be  regarded  as 
burdensome  ? 

Will  not  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  Free  Schools  sub 
serve  these  important  ends?  Who  pays  this  tax?  Those  who 
reap  the  benefit  of  it.  Who  reap  the  benefit  of  it?  Those  whose 
lives  are  protected  by  the  virtue  and  regard  to  law  which  a  good 
education  always  inspires, — those  whose  property  is  rendered  more 
valuable  by  the  industry  and  skill  which  a  good  education  always 
imparts, — those  who  sleep  in  peace,  because  education  and  the  vir 
tues  of  which  it  is  the  handmaid,  have  extinguished  the  torch  of 
the  incendiary, — those  who  enjoy  quiet  and  security,  because  edu- 
oation  has  disarmed  the  robber  and  assassin. 

And  who  are  those  that  are  thus  protected  in  the  peaceable  en 
joyments  of  their  possessions  ?  ALL.  The  benefits  of  education 
are  not  confined,  like  the  waters  of  our  rivers,  within  certain  nar 
row  channels ;  but  they  are  like  those  waters  changed  into  vapors, 
which  a  Beneficient  Power  diffuses  far  and  wide.  The  objection 
sometimes  urged  against  a  State  School  Tax  seems  to  arise  from  the 
narrow  view  taken  of  Education,  and  of  the  relation  which  educated 
men  sustain  to  the  State.  The  important  fact  is  too  often  over 
looked,  that  disorder  and  misery  in  one  part  bring  disorder  and 
misery  upon  every  part;  that  the  prosperity  of  one  communicates 
itself  to  all ;  that  the  strength,  wealth,  intelligence  and  happiness 
of  each,  are  entwined  with  the  vigor,  and  prosperity  and  security 
of  all.  In  a  Republic,  all  are  elevated  in  the  elevation  of  one,  and 
all  are  depressed  in  the  depression  of  one. 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

Surely  no  tax  should  be  regarded  as  burdensome  which  yields 
a  greater  and  more  substantial  return  than  the  tax  itself.  And 
what  branch  of  the  public  revenue  is  there  whose  disbursement 
yields  so  many,  so  certain,  and  such  invaluable  returns  as  this  ? 
Or  in  what  department  of  the  public  service  does  the  amount  of 
labor  for  the  same  amount  of  money  compare  with  that  in  our 
Common  Schools?  What  has  produced  the  remarkable  develop 
ment  of  power  and  activity  exhibited  within  the  last  twenty  years  ? 
The  answer  is,  that  better  and  more  efficient  systems  of  Education 
have  exerted  an  important  agency  in  producing  these  grand  results. 
The  mind  of  the  masses  has  been  stimulated  by  the  animating  power 
of  Education,  and  the  benefits  are  hourly  being  unfolded  before  us. 
Good  schools  not  only  increase  the  value  of  property,  but  the  value 
of  human  life.  And  although  their  agency  in  enhancing  the  value 
of  property  and  in  developing  the  physical  resources  of  the  coun 
try  may  not  be  so  visible  as  that  of  turnpikes,  plank-roads,  and 
canals,  yet  it  is  even  greater  and  far  more  certain. 

Their  influence  is  like  that  of  the  dew,  and  the  shower,  and  the 
sunshine,  quiet  and  almost  imperceptible ;  but  let  them  cease  to  dif 
fuse  their  benefits  and  their  blessings,  and  devouring  famine  would 
not  more  surely  come  in  the  one  case,  than  would  a  deadly  blight 
upon  our  prosperity  and  happiness  follow  in  the  other.  To  aban 
don,  then,  the  idea  of  free  schools,  is  to  turn  back  half  a  century  to 
that  crude  system  of  education  which  every  step  of  modern  pro 
gress,  and  every  result  of  modern  improvement  unite  in  condemn 
ing  as  unsuited  to  the  times  in  which  we  live.  We  might  almost 
as  well  recall  from  the  past  its  obsolete  system  of  finance,  its  iron 
forms  of  government,  its  slow  modes  of  commerce,  and  its  bloody 

superstitions. 

H.  H.  BARNEY. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. — A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  EUROPEAN  SYSTEMS  OF  PUBLIC 
INSTRUCTION,  17 — Early  Movements,  18 — Germany,  20  —  Prussia, 
21 — France,  22 — Russia,  24 — Denmark,  24 — Norway,  25 — Sweden, 
26— England,  26 — Scotland,  28. 

CHAPTER  II. — EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEMS  OF  THE  ATLANTIC  STATES 
AND  BRITISH  POSSESSIONS,  32 — Massachusetts,  32 — Maine,  35 — 
Rhode  Island,  36 — Connecticut,  36 — New  York,  38— Pennsylvania, 
43 — New  Jersey,  45 — Maryland,  45 — Delaware,  46 — Virginia,  46 — 
North  and  South  Carolina,  46 — Georgia,  47— Nova  Scotia,  49— 
Upper  Canada,  50— Canada  West,  52— New  York  City,  54. 

CHAPTER  III. — SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  OF  THE  WESTERN  STATES,  62 — 
Congressional  and  Territorial  Legislation,  62 — Michigan,  65 — Wis 
consin,  66  —  Indiana,  66 — Illinois,  67 — Missouri,  67 — Mississippi, 
68— Alabama,  69  — Florida,  69— Arkansas,  69  —  Louisiana,  7O— 
Texas,  70— California,  71. 

CHAPTER  IV. — ADMINISTRATION  OF  ARTHUR  ST.  CLAIR,  72 — Terri 
torial  Legislation,  73 — Legislature  of  Ohio,  in  1803,  79. 

CHAPTER  V. — ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO,  EDUCATIONAL 
COMPACTS,  81 — Virginia  Military  Reservation,  82 — United  States 
Military  Reservation,  84 — Western  Reserve,  85 — Moravian,  87. 

CHAPTER  VI. — ADMINISTRATION  OF  EDWARD  TIFFIN,  88  — Section 
Sixteen  Fund,  89 — Legislative  Enactments,  94,  97,  99 — Cincin 
nati  University,  100 — Ohio  University,  101. 

CHAPTER  VII. — ADMINISTRATION  OF  SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON,  102— 
Virginia  Military  District  Fund,  103  —  Executive  Recommenda 
tion,  105. 

CHAPTER  VIII.— ADMINISTRATION  OF  RETURN  J.  MEIGS,  106  — In 
augural  Address,  106 — Legislation,  107. 

CHAPTER  IX. — ADMINISTRATION  OF  THOMAS  WORTHINGTON,  111 — 
Summary  of  Legislation,  111— State  Library,  115 — Normal  Schools, 
117— Worthington  College,  120. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X.— ADMINISTRATION  OF  ETHAN  A.  BROWN,  121— School 
Fund,  121— Common  School  Act,  122 — Governor's  Message,  125 — 
School  Commissioners  Appointed,  131. 

CHAPTER  XL — ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEREMIAH  MORROW,  132  — 
Executive  Recommendation,  132 — Memorial  to  Congress,  134 — 
Report  of  N.  Guilford,  141— Act  of  1825,  142— Further  Execu 
tive  Suggestions,  147. 

CHAPTER  XIL— ADMINISTRATION  OF  ALLEN  TRIMBLE,  148  — Inau 
gural  Address,  148 — Summary  of  Legislation,  151,  156,  157. 

CHAPTER  XIIL— EXECUTIVE  RECOMMENDATIONS,  159— Governor  Mc- 
Arthur,  159 — Governor  Lucas,  159,  161,  162 — Governor  Vance, 
166— Governor  Shannon,  168,  170,  173 — Governor  Corwin,  174, 
179— Governor  Bartley,  178,  182,  183— Governor  Bebb,  184r— 
Governor  Ford,  185,  186. 

CHAPTER  XIV.— ABSTRACT  OF  SCHOOL  LEGISLATION  FROM  1831  TO 
1851,  187 — Superintendence,  187 — Taxation,  190 — State  Common 
School  Fund,  191— School  Houses,  192— Local  School  Officers, 
194— School  Examiners,  196  — Township  Taxation,  196— County 
Superintendents,  197  —  Special  School  Districts,  198  —  Town  of 
Akron,  199  —  German  and  English  Schools,  201  —  Schools  for 
Colored  Children,  202  —  United  States  Surplus  Revenue,  203  — 
Teachers'  Institutes,  205 — School  Revenues,  Fines,  Swamp  Lands, 
etc.,  207. 

CHAPTER  XV.  —  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1850-51,  211— 
Report  of  Standing  Committee  on  Education,  212 — Mr.  Curry's 
Minority  Report,  213 — Article  of  New  Constitution,  215. 

CHAPTER  XVI. — ORIGIN,  PROGRESS  AND  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  ACT 
OF  MARCH,  1853,  215— Review  of  Legislative  Action,  216-220— 
State  School  Tax,  220— Township  Boards  of  Education,  222  — 
Freedom  of  the  School  System,  226— School  District  Libraries, 
227 — Supervision  of  the  System,  227 — Apportionment  of  School 
Fund,  230 — Miscellaneous  Provisions,  231. 

CHAPTER  XVII.— RECENT  EVENTS  OF  EDUCATIONAL  INTEREST,  232— 
Proposed  Amendments  to  Act  of  1853,  233— Transfers  of  Terri 
tory,  and  sales  of  Section  Sixteen,  236 — Recommendations  of 
Governor  Wood,  237 — Recommendations  of  Governor  Medill,  239, 
241— Recommendations  of  Governor  Chase,  243— Superintendence 
of  H.  H.  Barney,  243. 


SCHOOL  LAWS  IN  FORCE. 


CHAPTEE  L— GENERAL  SCHOOL  ACT,  251— Election  of  Local  Direc 
tors,  252 — Duties  of  same,  253 — Township  Boards  of  Education, 
255 — Teachers'  Keports,  258 — Directors'  Statements,  259 — Central 
Schools,  259 — Annual  Estimates,  260 — Disbursement  of  School 
Funds,  261 — Duties  and  Liabilities  of  Clerk,  262 — Settlement  with 
Treasurer,  262— Duties  of  Treasurer,  263— Schools  for  Colored  Chil 
dren,  264  —  Cities  and  Villages,  265  —  Apportionment  of  School 
Fund,  267— Keturns  to  State  School  Commissioner,  268— School 
Houses  Exempt  from  Execution,  269 — School  Examiners,  and  their 
duties,  269— State  Commissioners,  271 — School  Libraries,  273 — 
State  School  Funds,  274— Acts  Repealed,  276. 

CHAPTER  II.— THE  AKRON  SCHOOL  LAWS,  280— Directors  and  Board 
of  Education,  280— Number  and  Grade  of  Schools,  281  — Town 
Council  to  Levy  Taxes,  282  — Reports,  283  —  Examiners,  283  — 
Public  Examinations,  284 — Provisions  extended  to  Dayton,  284. 

CHAPTER  III.— ACT  TO  AMEND  THE  AKRON  SCHOOL  LAW,  285— 
Amount  of  Taxes,  285 — Power  of  Board  and  duties  of  Auditor,  285. 

CHAPTER  IV. — ACT  EXTENDING  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  AKRON 
SCHOOL  LAW,  286 — All  Incorporated  Towns  may  Organize  under 
it,  286— Qualified  Voters,  287. 

CHAPTER  V. — ADDITIONAL  AMENDMENTS  TO  AKRON  SCHOOL  LAWS, 
287 — Boards  of  Education  may  adopt  certain  Enactments,  287. 

CHAPTER  VI. — GENERAL  ACT  FOR  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  CITIES,  TOWNS, 
ETC.,  288 — What  Towns  may  be  Single  Districts,  288— Directors 
to  be  Chosen,  289 — Powers  and  Duties  of  Directors,  289 — School 
Houses,  how  built,  290— Primary  Schools,  290  — High  Schools, 
291— General  Powers  of  Board,  291— How  long  Schools  to  be  kept, 
291— School  Tax,  292— School  Examiners,  292— Their  Duties,  293. 

CHAPTER  VII. — ACT  TO  AMEND  THE  ACT  FOR  INCORPORATION  OF 
CITIES,  TOWNS,  ETC.,  294  —  Council  may  Borrow  Money,  and 
how,  294. 

CHAPTER  VIII. — ACT  TO  AMEND  THE  GENERAL  ACT  FOR  PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS  IN  CITIES,  TOWNS,  ETC.,  295 — Extension  of  Act,  295 — 
School  Districts,  295— Title,  295— Children  under  six,  296. 

CHAPTER  IX.— AMENDMENTS  OF  THE  SCHOOL  ACT  OF  1853,  296— Tax 
for  School  Purposes,  296. 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. — ACT  FOB  COMPLETION  OF  CERTAIN  CONTRACTS  OF 
SCHOOL  DIRECTORS,  297. 

CHAPTER  XL— ACT  RELATING  TO  COMMON  SCHOOLS,  298— Transfers 
of  Territory  made  valid,  298. 

CHAPTER  XII.  —  ACT  PROVIDING  FOR  RECORDING,  PRINTING  AND 
DISTRIBUTING  THE  LAWS  AND  PUBLIC  DOCUMENTS,  299  —  Official 
Reports,  299— School  Year,  299— Reports  of  State  Officers,  300. 

CHAPTER  XIII.— ACT  TO  ENCOURAGE  TEACHERS'  INSTITUTES,  300— 
Surplus  Revenue.  301 — Expenditures  of  Moneys,  301 — Who  to 
attend  Associations,  301 — Examiners  to  report,  301. 

CHAPTER  XIV. — ACT  TO  AMEND  AND  EXTEND  THE  ACT  TO  ENCOUR 
AGE  TEACHERS'  INSTITUTES,  302 — Provisions  made  General,  302 — 
School  Libraries,  302. 

CHAPTER  XV. — ACT  TO  AMEND  THE  ACT  TO  ENCOURAGE  TEACHERS' 
INSTITUTES,  303 — County  Commissioners  may  appropriate  $100,  and 
Levy  a  Tax,  303 — Teachers  to  raise  half  the  amount  required,  303. 

CHAPTER  XVI. — ACT  TO  REGULATE  THE  SALE  OF  SCHOOL  LANDS, 
304 — Vote  of  citizens  of  Townships,  304 — Court  of  Common  Pleas 
to  appoint  persons  to  value  and  divide  the  Lands,  305 — Appraisers, 
305— Auditor  to  Advertise  Sale,  306— Permanent  Leases,  306— Pay 
ments  to  County  Treasurer,  307 — Re-sale  in  case  of  non-payment, 
308— Certificate,  309— Deed,  309— Excess  of  Money  and  Fees,  309— 
Acts  Repealed,  310. 

CHAPTER  XVII.  — ACT  TO  CONFIRM  SALES  MADE  BY  TRUSTEES  OF 
SECTION  SIXTEEN  and  other  lands,  to  purchasers,  311. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. — ACT  TO  ESTABLISH  A  FUND  FOR  THE  SUPPORT  OF 
COMMON  SCHOOLS,  312 — Auditor  of  State  Superintendent  of  Fund, 
312— Irreducible,  312— Rate  of  Interest,  312— Pledge  for  payment^ 
313_Orders,  Receipts  and  Distribution,  311 — Donations,  314 — Gen 
eral  Fund,  314. 

CHAPTER  XIX. — ACT  TO  INCREASE  THE  GENERAL  FUND  FOR  SUPPORT 
OF  COMMON  SCHOOLS,  315 — Proceeds  of  Swamp  Lands  to  be  added, 
315. 

CHAPTER  XX. — MAINTAINANCE  AND  BETTER  REGULATION  OF  COMMOW 
SCHOOLS  IN  CINCINNATI,  316 — Trustees  and  Visitors,  316— Board  to 
fix  amount  of  School  Taxes,  317 — Powers  of  Trustees  and  Visitors, 
318— Interest  on  Bonds,  318— Control  of  School  Fund,  318— Trustees 
to  superintend  Schools,  employ  Teachers,  take  an  Enumeration  of 
Children,  make  Report,  establish  Grades,  etc.,  319 — German  Schools, 
320L-Schools  Free  to  White  Children,  320— Evening  Schools,  32O— 
Board  of  Examiners,  320— Sale  of  Public  Property,  321— Fines,  etc., 
321— Directors  of  Colored  Schools,  322— Fund  for  same,  323— Acts 
Repealed,  323. 


THE 


OHIO    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


CHAPTER    I. 

A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  EUROPEAN  SYSTEMS  OF  PUBLIC 
INSTRUCTION. 

"No  SYSTEM  of  public  instruction  was  recognized  by  the 
ancients.  Common  schools  are  of  comparatively  recent  date, 
and  their  benefits  are  mostly  confined  to  Europeans  and  their 
descendants.  Prior  to  Grecian  civilization,  education  was  the 
privilege  of  those  who  were  designed  for  official  or  ecclesias 
tical  stations.  Moses  was  educated  in  a  priestly  school  in 
Egypt;  Cyrus  at  a  seminary  connected  with  the  Persian 
court;  the  Indian  Brahmins  imparted  instruction  in  secret 
schools;  in  Palestine,  those  conversant  with  the  Scriptures 
taught  in  the  schools  of  the  prophets ;  at  later  periods  in  the 
synagogues,  and  in  the  schools  of  the  rabbis.  The  advan 
tages  of  these  schools  were  accessible  to  few ;  the  means  of 
learning  were  limited  to  conversation,  reading,  committing  to 
memory,  and  hearing  explanations  of  the  sacred  books. 

Sparta  may  be  regarded  as  an  exception  to  the  invariable 
practice  among  the  ancients,  to  leave  the  education  of  children 
exclusively  to  parents  or  special  classes ;  but  the  system  of 
Lycurgus  was  more  intended  for  the  development  of  the  phys 
ical  powers  than  the  intellect.  Still,  the  Greeks  were  not 

without  conceptions  of  the  great  value  to  a  commonwealth  of 

2  (17) 


,:  .13  EUROPEAN  SYSTEMS   OF 

education.  The  philosophers  were  surrounded  by  ardent  dis 
ciples  ;  and  the  popular  discussions  of  the  people  aflbrded  a 
superior  culture.  Nevertheless,  even  at  the  most  enlightened 
period  of  Greece,  the  mass  of  freemen  were  enveloped  in  pro 
found  ignorance. 

The  Ilomans,  also,  from  300  B.  0.,  had  schools  for  boys  in 
the  cities,  and  from  the  age  of  Caesar,  who  conferred  the  rights 
of  citizenship  on  teachers,  possessed  the  higher  institutions  of 
the  grammarians.  In  these,  Latin  and  Greek  were  taught 
scientifically,  and  young  men  of  talent  went  from  the  gram 
marians  to  the  rhetoricians,  who,  like  Quintilian,  prepared 
them,  by  exercises  in  declamation,  for  speaking  in  public. 
But  a  regular  school  system  had  no  existence  among  the 
llomans.  Schools  were  institutions  ^confined  to  particular 
classes,  or  were  the  fruit  of  private  enterprise.  Many  of 
these,  under  the  patronage  of  the  emperors,  were  well 
adapted  to  train  young  men  for  the  public  service. 

Christianity,  by  degrees,  succeeded  to  the  entire  control  of 
education.  During  the  middle  ages,  the  monastic  orders  sus 
tained  schools,  whose  chief  merit  consisted  in  the  preservation, 
to  our  times,  of  what  survived  of  ancient  literature ;  but  while 
these  conventual  schools  rivaled  the  episcopal  and  cathedral 
schools  of  an  earlier  epoch,  yet  they  were  always  directed 
more  to  the  advantage  of  the  priesthood  tlian  to  purposes  of 
iron  era!  instruction.  That  such  was  the  fact  is  apparent  from 
the  traditional  designation  of  the  u  Dark  Ages,"  which  has 
not  been  misapplied  to  that  period. 

Charlemagne  had  in  view  a  system  of  national  instruction, 
w^hen  he  issued,  in  780,  his  decree  for  the  improvement  of  the 
schools  of  his  empire.  Not  only  every  bishop's  see,  and 
every  convent,  but  every  parish  was  to  have  its  schools ;  the 
two  former,  for  the  instruction  of  clergymen  and  public  offi 
cers,  the  latter  for  the  commonalty.  At  his  court,  Charle 
magne  established  an  academy  of  distinguished  scholars,  to 
whom  he  himself  resorted  for  instruction,  and  whom  he  em 
ployed  to  educate  his  children,  and  capable  boys  belonging  to 
the  nobility  and  other  classes,  in  the  court  school.  The  ladies 


PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  19 

of  Ms  court  also  partook  in  the  benefits  of  instruction ;  and 
some  nunneries,  in  their  institutions  for  female  education, 
rivaled  the  seminaries  in  the  monasteries.  The  ladies  learned 
Latin,  which  was  then  the  common  medium  of  communication 
between  persons  of  different  countries,  as  French  is  at  present. 
Charlemagne  took  upon  himself  the  superintendence  of  the 
schools  in  his  empire,  had  reports  sent  to  him,  made  examin 
ations,  and  delivered  addresses  to  the  pupils  of  the  school  at 
his  court.  These  schools  often  enabled  him  to  discover  the 
talents  of  young  men,  whom  he  appointed  to  high  offices*in 
the  Church  and  State.  It  is  one  of  the  noblest  traits  in  his 
character,  that,  in  that  age  of  gross  ignorance,  he  labored  with 
zeal  for  the  instruction  of  the  nations  under  his  sway. 
But  Charlemagne's  decrees  were  forgotten  during  the  disputes 
of  his  grandsons  about  the  government,  under  whom,  also, 
the  above-mentioned  court  school  was  abandoned ;  and  his 
great  establishment  declined,  like  the  school  establishment  of 
the  great  Alfred,  in  England,  which  was  begun  with  equal 
zeal  and  on  an  equal  scale,  in  the  ninth  century,  and  was 
destroyed  by  the  invasions  of  the  Danes ;  though  Edward  the 
Confessor,  endeavored  to  restore  it. 

Meanwhile  the  influence  of  Arabian  civilization  became 
apparent  in  southern  Europe,  by  the  cultivation  of  mathe 
matical  and  medical  science.  Institutions,  for  the  purpose  of 
qualifying  men  for  the  different  professions,  sprung  up — first, 
for  medicine,  and  afterward  in  the  learning  and  practice  of 
the  canon  law.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  these  fell 
under  clerical  influence. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century — full  eight 
hundred  years  after  the  enlightened  but  fruitless  measures  of 
Charlemagne  and  Alfred — some  improvement  is  observable. 
A  pious  fraternity  of  the  Jeronyinites  was  organized,  consist 
ing  of  clergymen  and  laymen,  who  lived  together,  occupied 
partly  with  mechanical  arts,  partly  with  the  instruction  of 
girls  and  boys,  to  whom  they  taught  reading,  writing,  and 
the  useful  arts.  For  boys  of  talent  and  diligence,  there  were 
Latin  classes.  On  the  m<3del  of  these  schools,  others  were 


20  EUROPEAN   SYSTEMS   OF 

established  in  the  Netherlands,  on  the  Rhine,  and  in  northern 
Germany.  These  soon  came  into  communication  with  the 
Greeks  who  had  fled  to  Italy ;  and  thus  the  study  of  the 
classics  became  more  cultivated.  Through  the  efforts  of  men 
like  Thomas-a-Kempis,  Hegius,  Erasmus,  Agricola,  Rench- 
lin,  and  Melancthon,  a  liberal  study  of  the  remains  of  classic 
antiquity  was  commenced.  From  such  a  beginning  we  may 
date  that  vast  intellectual  progress,  and  that  effective  system 
of  popular  instruction,  which  constitute  the  crowning  glory 
oft  modern  Germany. 

The  Reformation  gave  a  forward  impulse  to  education,  in 
Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant  States.  The  Jesuit  schools  be 
came  prominent  about  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
for  a  long  period  rivaled  those  of  Germany.  But  a  variety 
of  circumstances  contributed  to  produce  degeneracy  in  these 
Catholic  schools,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  Protestants.  The 
former  became  again  confined  to  a  fixed  routine',  the  latter 
passed  from  the  strictness  of  the  conventual  schools  to  licen 
tiousness,  through  the  influence  of  the  privileged  universities. 
To  this  was  added,  in  Germany,  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  in 
which  fanaticism  on  both  sides  destroyed  what  had  been 
judiciously  established. 

It  is  within  one  hundred  years,  however,  that  the  agency 
of  government  In  the  education  of  the  people  has  become  a 
powerful  element  of  modern  society ;  although,  in  some  in 
stances,  the  germ  of  a  system  of  public  instruction  was 
deposited  long  previously. 

Germany — comprising  under  that  designation  the  heart  of 
Europe,  from  the  Alps  to  the  Baltic* — Germany  holds  the 

(a)  The  German  States,  although  under  different  governments,  are  noted 
for  a  common  nationality.  This  community  of  sentiment  is  doubtless  pro 
duced  by  a  common  origin  and  language — a  fact  finely  illustrated  by  a 
popular  song  of  M.  Arndt,  in  which  occurs  the  following 

"  What  country  docs  a  German  claim  1 
His  Fatherland  ;  know'st  thou  its  name  ? 
Is  it  Bavaria— Saxony  ? 
An  inland  state,  or  on  the  sea  ? 


PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  21 

foremost  rank  in  educational  progress.  Prussia,  Saxony, 
Wirtemberg,  Hanover,  Bavaria,  Baden,  Switzerland,  even 
Austria — each  has  established  an  effective  system  of  public 
instruction,  although,  in  some  of  these  States,  many  provisions 
and  features  exist  which  are  inapplicable  to  our  republican 
institutions.  A  volume  would  be  insufficient  for  such  details  ; 
but  the  example  of  Prussia  may  be  briefly  cited  as  an  illus 
tration  of  the  general  plan. 

Prussia  has,  indeed,  taken  the  lead  of  Europe  (although, 
since  1833,  the  republic  of  Switzerland  holds  an  equal  rank) 
in  the  establishment  of  a  complete  system  of  national  educa 
tion.  With  rare  exceptions,  every  individual  in  the  kingdom 
can  both  read  and  write.  This  happy  result  has  been  obtained, 
first,  by  establishing  an  adequate  number  of  schools  in  all 
parts  of  the  monarchy,  and  then  enforcing  attendance  by  a 
law,  which  provides  that  every  child,  from,  the  age  of  five 
years,  unless  certified  to  be  receiving  a  suitable  education  at 
home,  or  in  a  private  seminary,  must  be  in  attendance  at 
a  national  school,  until  such  time  as  the  course  of  instruction 
therein  provided  has  been  completed.  This  course  occupies 
about  eight  years,  so  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  general 
rule,  that  all  Prussian  children  between  the  ages  of  six'  and 
fourteen  are  at  school.  The  different  classes  of  schools  are, 
1.  The  elementary  school,  at  which  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  receive  their  education ;  2.  The  city  school,  which  is 
always  attached  to  a  gymnasium;  3.  The  gymnasium,  in 


There,  on  the  Baltic's  plains  of  sand ! 
Or  'mid  the  Alps  of  Switzerland  1 
Austria,  the  Adriatic  shores'? 
Or  where  the  Prussian  eagle  soars? 
Or  where  hills  covered  by  the  vine 
Adorn  the  landscape  of  the  Rhine  1 
O  no,  O  no!  not  these,  alone, 
The  land,  with  pride,  we  call  our  own — 
Not  these.    A  German  heart  or  mind 
Is  to  no  narrow  realm  confined: 
Where'er  he  hears  his  native  tongue 
When  hymns  of  praise  to  God  are  sung, 
There  is  his  Fatherland,  and  he 
Has  but  one  country — Germany !" 


22  EUROPEAN   SYSTEMS    OF 

which  Latin  and  Greek  are  taught.  In  most  of  the  small 
towns  are  normal  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers.  Prus 
sia  also  possesses  the  celebrated  universities  of  Berlin,  Halle, 
and  Bonn,  besides  those  of  Breslau,  Greifwald,  and  Kouigs- 
berg,  and  numerous  literary  and  learned  societies.  The  uni 
versities  are  all  under  the  control  of  the  Government. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  schools  of  various 
kinds,  and  of  teachers  and  pupils  in  1849: 

Number.       Teachers.  Pupils. 

Elementary  schools, 24,201 30,865 2,453,062. 

Middle  and  higher  schools, . . .      505 2,269 69,302. 

Upper  female   schools 385 1,118 53,570. 

Gymnasia, 117 1,664 29,474. 


2,605,408. 

Normal  seminaries, 46 ....        2,411. 

Universities, 7 ....        4,306. 

In  1849  the  number  of  children  between  six  and  fourteen 
years  of  age,  was  3,223,362,  of  whom,  as  seen  in  the  above 
table,  2,605,408  were  at  school,  leaving  a  balance  of  617,954 
to  be  accounted  for,  partly  by  private  teaching,  partly  by  the 
fact  that  many  do  not  enter  school  until  they  are  above  six 
years  old,  and  many  leave  before  they  are  fourteen;  and 
many,  doubtless,  received  no  education  during  the  year  in 
question. 

France,  prior  to  the  revolution  of  1789,  had  been  as  re 
gardless  of  the  intellectual  welfare  of  the  mass  of  her  people 
as  of  their  political  rights.  The  convulsion  of  1789,  was 
an  inevitable  result  of  that  neglect — so  obviously,  indeed,  that 
by  various  orders  of  the  Convention,  a  system  of  public 
schools  was  projected,  in  which  primary  education  was  to  be 
free  to  all  at  the  expense  of  the  State.  Out  of  these  ordi 
nances  sprung  the  first  normal  school  in  France,  and  the 
Polytechnic  School,  in  1794. 

I  hit  the  promise  of  good  primary  schools  was  not  realized, 
and  the  normal  school  was  abolished  in  the  following  year. 
In  1802  the  promise  was  renewed  in  a  new  ordinance ;  but  it 
was  silent  and  inoperative  in  the  midst  of  universal  war. 


PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  23 

In  1808  Napoleon  organized  the  Imperial  University,  em 
bracing  under  that  designation  the  governmental  control  of 
all  the  educational  institutions  of  France;  primary,  secondary, 
and  superior.  In  one  of  his  decrees,  primary  instruction 
(intended  for  the  masses  of  society)  was  limited  to  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic;  and  the  legal  authorities  were  en 
joined  uto  watch  that  the  teachers  did  not  carry  their 
instructions  beyond  these  limits."  Under  the  organization 
established  by  Napoleon,  and  with  views  of  primary  education 
but  little  expanded  beyond  the  imperial  ordinance  referred 
to,  and  with  even  these  limited  views  unrealized,  the  Govern 
ment  continued  to  administer  the  system  of  public  education 
until  the  revolution  of  1830.  Then  some  amelioration  occurred 
under  the  administration  of  Louis  Phillippe.  Steps  were 
taken  to  increase  the  number  and  efficiency  of  the  schools 
already  established,  by  additional  appropriations  for  their 
support,  and  a  Department  of  Public  Instruction  was  re-or 
ganized.  M.  Victor  Cousin,  whose  metaphysical  writings 
are  so  well  known  to  both  continents,  was  directed  to 
examine  and  report  on  the  "  condition  of  public  instruction 
in  Germany,  and  particularly  in  Prussia ;"  and  did  so,  de 
monstrating  the  immense  superiority  of  all  the  German 
States,  even  the  most  insignificant  duchy,  over  any  and  every 
department  of  France  in  all  that  concerned  institutions  of 
primary  and  secondary  education.  On  the  experience  of 
Prussia  as  a  basis,  a  great  and  comprehensive  measure  of  ele 
mentary  education  was  framed,  in  1832,  by  M.  Guizot,  and 
the  following  year  it  became  a  law.  Besides  the  University 
of  France,  composed  of  twenty-six  academies  dispersed  over 
the  departments,  with  ample  faculties  of  Theology,  Law,  Medi 
cine,  Science,  and  Letters,  or  Literature,  the  law  ordains  at 
least  one  elementary  school  in  each  of  the  39.381  communes 
into  which  France  is  divided;  and  these  communes,  where 
the  population  exceeds  6,000,  are  required  to  support  one 
superior  primary  school,  and  are  aided  in  opening  infant 
primary  schools,  evening  schools,  classes  for  adults,  and  high 
schools.  Attendance,  by  a  law  of  1841,  is  made  obligatory; 


24  EUBOPEAN   SYSTEMS   OF 

efficient  supervision  and  inspection  are  provided,  and  normal 
schools  to  supply  the  annual  demand  for  teachers  of  primary 
schools,  are  required  to  be  established.  In  184:6  there  were 
ninety-two  normal  schools,  seventy-six  of  which  were  for  the 
education  of  school  masters,  and  sixteen  for  the  education  of 
school  mistresses ;  and  to  fifty-two  of  them  enough  land  is 
attached  to  teach  Agriculture  and  Horticulture. 

Though  Russia  still  ranks  among  the  more  imperfectly 
educated  countries  of  Europe,  the  Government  has  long 
taken  a  distinguished  lead  in  the  cause  of  education,  and 
promulgated  a  complete  national  system,  which,  though  not 
yet  carried  into  full  eifect,  has  made  great  progress.  The 
basis  of  this  system  was  laid  by  Peter  the  Great,  and  pro 
moted  by  Catherine  II ;  but  it  is  indebted  for  its  fuller  devel 
opments  to  Alexander  and  Nicholas.  Since  1848,  however, 
the  Russian  youth  have  been  considerably  restricted  in  their 
range  of  studies,  by  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to 
prevent  its  subjects  coming  in  contact  with  the  opinions  that 
have  extended  over  the  other  countries  of  Europe.  In  many 
institutions  Theology  has  taken  the  place  of  Philosophy ;  and 
the  official  report  of  1851  assumes  as  its  basis  the  Emperor's 
own  idea,  that  "  religious  teaching  constitutes  the  only  solid 
foundation  of  useful  instruction."  The  system  recognizes 
military  schools  of  three  classes ;  army,  naval,  and  the  chil 
dren  of  the  soldiery ;  ecclesiastical,  mining,  and  commercial ; 
and  a  large  variety  of  establishments  under  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  including  those  devoted  to  charity  and 
benevolence.  The  total  number  of  pupils  instructed  in  the 
above  classes  of  schools  is  about  600,000,  besides  whom  it  is 
estimated  that  about  as  many  more  receive  a  home  education, 
making  an  aggregate  of  1,200,000  under  instruction.  To 
give  unity  and  vigor  to  the  school  system,  a  special  Ministry 
of  Public  Instruction  has  been  appointed,  and  now  forms 
one  of  the  great  departments  of  the  State. 

Few  countries,  in  proportion  to  their  size,  have  done  so 
much  for  education  as  Denmark.  At  the  head  of  the  educa 
tional  institutions  stands  the  University  of  Copenhagen,  and 


PUBLIC   INSTKUCTION.  25 

the  Holberg  Academy,  at  Soroe.  In  the  sixty-four  provincial 
towns,  are  twenty  schools,  in  which  the  learned  languages 
are  taught,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  town,  free,  and 
upper  general  schools,  besides  a  number  of  private  establish 
ments  ;  in  the  country  there  are  2,504  common  schools,  or 
volks-schulen,  and  five  normal  schools.  Denmark  has  the 
greatest  number  of  pupils  in  school,  in  proportion  to  the 
total  population,  of  any  country  in  the  world. 

Norway,  although  politically  connected  with  Sweden,  has 
an  interesting  school  system  of  her  own.  Gratuitous  in 
struction,  of  an  elementary  kind,  is  placed  within  the  reach 
of  all  capable  of  receiving  it;  and  all  children  of  seven 
years  complete,  in  town,  and  eight  years  in  the  country,  are 
required  to  be  in  attendance  at  school  until  confirmation, 
which  usually  takes  place  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and 
seventeen.  The  law  forbids  the  marriage  of  any  one  who 
can  not  procure  a  certificate  of  confirmation,  and  this  is 
only  given  to  those  who  can  read.  Every  individual  of  the 
age  of  twenty,  not  confirmed,  is  liable  to  be  sent  to  a 
house  of  correction  to  receive  the  necessary  instruction.  The 
schools  designated  by  the  name  of  almue  skoler,  or  people's 
schools,  are  located  in  all  towns  and  parishes.  In  towns, 
the  instruction  is  not  only  elementary;  in  certain  cases  it 
is  superior.  In  the  country,  the  instruction  is  only  element 
ary  ;  but  in  the  schools  themselves,  an  important  distinction 
is  made,  some  being  what  is  called  fast  skoler,  or  stationary 
schools,  and  others  omgangs  skoler,  or  ambulatory  schools. 
The  latter,  as  the  name  implies,  shift  about  at  certain  periods 
of  the  year  from  place  to  place,  in  the  more  thinly-peopled 
and  isolated  districts,  and  thus  have  the  effect  of  bringing 
education  to  those  who,  but  for  this  wise  and  benevolent 
arrangement,  would  be  doomed  to  live  without  it.  The  towns 
possess,  in  addition  to  these  people's  schools,  what  are  called 
middle  schools,  middle  and  royal  schools,  burgher  schools,  and 
Latin  or  learned  schools ;  in  all  of  which  superior  instruction 
is  given.  There  are,  also,  four  cathedral  schools ;  one  each 
in  the  towns  of  Christiana,  Bergen,  Frondhjem  and  Chris- 


26  EUROPEAN  SYSTEMS   OF 

tiansand.  There  is  a  military  school  at  Christiana,  and  a 
school  of  marine  at  Fredericksham.  Six  normal  schools  are 
supported  by  the  State.  At  the  head  of  all  the  educational 
establishments  is  the  University  of  Christiana,  at  which, 
complete  courses  of  lectures  are  delivered,  to  qualify  for  the 
different  learned  professions  and  the  higher  grades  of  official 
employments. 

The  people  of  Sweden,  in  point  of  intelligence  and  educa 
tion,  are  scarcely  surpassed  by  any  country  in  Europe.  This 
is  partly  owing  to  the  enlightened  spirit  of  the  Government, 
in  endeavoring  to  provide  schools  in  every  important  local 
ity  ;  but  it  derives  great  additional  aid  from  the  parents,  who, 
in  many  parts  of  the  country,  where  regular  schools,  owing  to 
the  scantiness  of  the  population,  can  not  be  maintained,  are 
careful  to  give  a  substantial  education  to  their  children  at 
their  own  firesides.  The  system  comprises  Universities  at 
ITpsala  and  Lund,  two  secondary  and  grammar  schools, 
(classical  and  practical  schools),  and  three  primary  schools,  or 
schools  for  the  people,  the  whole  under  the  inspection  of  the 
bishop  and  chapter  of  the  cathedral.  In  1800  there  were 
143,526  pupils  in  the  stationary,  and  126,178  in  the  ambula 
tory  primary  schools,  6,223  in  the  secondary  schools,  17,464 
in  private  institutions,  128,996  educated  at  home,  and  25,718 
in  Sunday  schools.  All  children  between  the  ages  of  nino 
and  fifteen  must  attend  school  or  receive  instruction  at  home. 
A  normal  school  was  established  in  1842. 

England,  in  regard  to  this  momentous  interest,  compares 
unfavorably  with  the  lesser  powers  of  northern  Europe. 
For  the  aristocratic  and  wealthy  classes,  and  the  clergy  of 
the  Established  Church,  England  possesses,  in  the  Universi 
ties  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  two  of  the  most  celebrated 
institutions  in  the  world.  For  what  her  public  men  style  the 
middle  classes,  a  much  more  scanty  provision  has  been  made. 
The  deficiency,  however,  has,  in  some  measure,  been  sup 
plied  by  the  erection,  within  comparatively  recent  times,  of  a 
great  number  of  colleges  and  endowed  schools,  in  which  in 
struction  in  the  various  branches,  both  of  p-m-rul  and  profea- 


PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  27 

sional  education  is  furnished  at  a  moderate  expense.  But 
the  education  which,  in  a  national  point  of  view,  is  the  most 
important  of  all — that  suited  to  the  great  mass  of  the  popula 
tion — was  for  a  long  time  greatly  neglected.  The  public 
mind,  however,  has  finally,  in  a  measure,  been  awakened  to 
the  necessities  of  the  case ;  accurate  statistics  of  the  educa 
tional  state  of  the  most  important  districts  of  the  kingdom 
have  been  obtained,  proving  both  the  lamentable  extent  to 
which  ignorance  prevails,  and  its  decided  tendency  to  foster 
pauperism,  immorality,  and  crime ;  and  all  classes  of  the 
community  are  now  making  commendable  exertions  to  ex 
tend  the  blessings  of  education.  The  great  work  of  popular 
instruction  is  materially  clogged  by  the  pertinacity  of  the 
Established  Church,  in  seeking  the  control  of  the  national 
schools ;  although  an  organization  exists,  known  as  the  Brit 
ish  and  Foreign  School  Society,  the  constitution  of  which  is 
so  framed  as  to  receive  the  support  of  all  denominations.  In 
no  respect  is  the  union  of  Church  and  State  more  disastrous, 
than  by  its  influence  upon  the  efforts  to  organize  an  educa 
tional  system  in  England.  The  support  which  popular  edu 
cation  receives  from  the  Government,  through  the  board  or 
ganized  for  that  purpose,  consists  only  of  an  original  grant 
of  £30,000,  now  raised  to  £125,000  per  annum ;  while  from 
the  reports  of  the  French  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  for 
1843,  it  appeared  that  for  ten  years  prior  to  that  year,  France 
expended  the  sum  of  £2,565,883  (about  $11,000,000)  in  the 
erection  of  school-houses  and  residences  of  teachers  ;  and  in 
184:3  the  expenditure  for  the  current  expenses  of  her  educa 
tional  establishments  was  a  little  short  of  $4:,000,000,  inde 
pendent  of  the  sum  paid  by  the  communes,  individuals,  and 
parents,  in  school  fees,  which  amounted  to  near  $5,000,000. 
In  England,  the  proportion  of  the  population  under  instruc 
tion — both  public  and  private — is  one  to  eleven,  while  in 
some  of  the  Swiss  cantons  it  is  as  one  to  five.  To  this  fact — 
the  scanty  provision  made  for  the  education  of  the  masses — 
is  to  be  traced  one  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of  crime ;  and 
it  has  been  ascertained  that  out  of  335,4:29  persons  committed 


28  EUROPEAN   SYSTEMS   OF 

for  offenses,  in  England  and  Wales,  between  1836  and  1848, 
not  fewer  than  304,772,  or  more  than  90  per  cent.,  were  unin- 
stnicted. 

Passing  Ireland — another  monument  of  the  evil  effect  of  a 
Church  establishment  upon  public  instruction — Scotland  af 
fords  a  very  satisfactory  illustration  of  the  benefits  afforded 
by  general  education.  Her  parochial  schools  are  justly  dis 
tinguished.  The  foundation  of  the  system  was  laid  in  1494, 
when  it  was  enacted,  by  the  Scotch  Parliament,  that  all 
barons  and  substantial  freeholders  throughout  the  realm 
should  send  their  children  to  school  from  the  age  of  six  to 
nine  years,  and  then  to  other  seminaries  to  be  instructed  in 
the  laws;  that  the  country  might  be  possessed  of  persons 
properly  qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of  sheriffs,  and  to 
fill  other  civil  offices.  Those  who  neglected  to  comply  with 
the  provisions  of  this  statute  were  subjected  to  a  penalty  of 
£20.  In  1560,  John  Knox  and  his  compeers  held  the  follow 
ing  memorable  language,  in  the  "First  Book  of  Discipline," 
presented  to  the  nobility : 

"Seeing  that  God  has  determined  that  his  kirk  here  on 
eartli  shall  be  taught,  not  by  angels,  but  by  men ;  and  seeing 
that  men  are  born  ignorant  of  God  and  of  godliness ;  and 
seeing,  also,  that  he  ceaseth  to  illuminate  men  miraculously, 
of  necessity  it  is,  that  your  honors  be  most  careful  for  the 
virtuous  education  and  godly  bringing  up  of  the  youth  of 
this  realm.  For  as  they  must  succeed  to  us,  so  we  ought  to 
be  careful  that  they  have  knowledge  and  education  to  profit 
and  comfort  that  which  ou^ht  to  be  most  dear  to  us,  to  wit, 
the  kirk  and  spouse  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Of  necessity, 
therefore,  we  judge  it,  that  every  several  kirk  have  one 
schoolmaster  appointed ;  such  an  one,  at  least,  as  is  able  to 
teach  Grammar  and  the  Latin  tongue,  if  the  town  be  of  any 
reputation.  And  further,  we  think  it  expedient  that  in  every 
notable  town,  there  should  be  erected  a  college,  in  which  the 
arts  at  least  of  Rhetoric  and  Logic,  together  with  the  tongues, 
be  read  by  sufficient  masters,  for  whom  honest  stipends  must 
be  appointed ;  as  also  that  provision  be  made  for  those  that 
are  poor,  and  not  able  by  themselves  or  their  friends  to  be 
sustained  at  letters. 

uThe  rich  and  potent  may  not  be  permitted  to  suffer  their 
children  to  spend  their  youth  in  a  vain  idleness,  as  heretofore 


PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  29 

they  have  done ;  but  they  must  be  exhorted,  and  by  the  cen 
sure  of  the  kirk,  compelled  to  dedicate  their  sons  by  good 
exercises  to  the  profit  of  the  kirk  and  commonwealth ;  and 
this  they  must  do  because  they  are  able.  The  children  of  the 
poor  must  be  supported  and  sustained  on  the  charge  of  the 
kirk,  trial  being  taken  whether  the  spirit  of  docility  be  in 
them  found  or  not.  If  they  be  found  apt  to  learning  and 
letters,  then  may  they  not  be  permitted  to  reject  learning,  but 
must  be  charged  to  continue  their  study,  so  that  the  common 
wealth  may  have  some  comfort  by  them ;  and  for  this  pur 
pose,  must  discreet,  grave,  and  learned  men  be  appointed  to 
visit  schools,  for  the  trial  of  their  exercise,  profit,  and  contin 
uance  ;  to  wit,  the  ministers  and  elders,  with  the  best  learned 
men  in  every  town.  A  certain  time  must  be  appointed  to 
reading  and  learning  the  Catechism,  and  a  certain  time  to 
Grammar  and  the  Latin  tongue,  and  a  certain  time  to  the  arts 
of  Philosophy  and  the  other  tongues,  and  a  certain  time  to 
that  study  in  which  they  intend  chiefly  to  travel  for  the  profit 
of  the  commonwealth ;  which  time  being  expired,  the  chil 
dren  shall  either  proceed  to  further  knowledge,  or  else  they 
must  be  set  to  some  handicraft,  or  to  some  other  profitable 
exercise." 

In  1615  the  bishops  were  empowered  to  establish  a  school 
in  every  parish  ;  and  in  1696  the  defects  of  this  law  were 
supplied  by  another,  which  provides  for  the  means  of  sup 
port.  The  landlords  of  each  parish  were  required  to  build  a 
school-house  and  a  dwelling-house  for  the  master,  and  to  pay 
him  a  given  salary,  at  first  from  £5  to  £11,  and  subse 
quently,  as  the  value  of  money  diminished,  from  £16  to  £22 
per  annum.  In  addition  to  this,  the  teacher  receives  fees  from 
the  pupils,  from  2s.  6d.  to  7s.  6d.  per  quarter.  It  has  been 
usually  expected  that  a  Scotch  parish  schoolmaster,  besides 
being  a  person  of  unexceptionable  character,  should  be  able 
to  instruct  his  pupils  in  the  reading  of  English,  in  the  arts  of 
Writing  and  Arithmetic,  the  more  common  and  useful 

O 

branches  of  practical  Mathematics,  •  and  that  he  should  be 
possessed  of  such  classical  attainments  as  might  qualify  him 
for  teaching  Latin  and  the  rudiments  of  Greek. 

It  would  be  no  easy  matter  to  exaggerate  the  beneficial 
effects  of  the  elementary  instruction  obtained  at  parish 
schools,  on  the  habits  and  industry  of  the  people  of  Scotland. 


30  EUROPEAN   SYSTEMS   OP 

It  has  given  to  that  part  of  the  British  Empire  an  importance 
to  which  it  lias  no  claim,  either  from  fertility  of  soil  or 
amount  of  population.  The  universal  diffusion  of  schools, 
and  the  consequent  education  of  the  people,  have  opened,  to 
all  classes,  paths  to  wealth,  honor,  and  distinction.  Persona 
of  the  humblest  origin  have  raised  themselves  to  the  highest 
eminence  in  every  walk  of  ambition,  and  a  spirit  of  fore 
thought  and  energy  has  been  widely  disseminated. 

At  the  period  when  the  act  of  1C96  for  establishing  parish 
schools  was  passed,  Scotland,  which  had  suffered  greatly  from 
misgovernment  and  religious  persecutions,  under  the  reign  of 
Charles  II,  and  his  brother  James  II,  was  in  the  most  un- 
prosperous  condition.  "  There  are,"  wrote  Fletcher  of  Sal- 
toun,  a  celebrated  Scotch  patriot,  in  1698,  "  at  this  day  in 
Scotland  two  hundred  thousand  people  legging  from  door  to 
door.  Many  murders  have  been  discovered  amongst  them, 
and  they  are  a  most  unspeakable  oppression  to  poor  tenants. 
There  are  such  outrageous  disorders,  that  it  would  be  better 
for  the  nation  that  they  were  sold  for  the  gallics  or  the  West 
Indies,  than  they  should  continue  any  longer  to  be  a  burden 
and  a  curse  upon  us." 

No  country  ever  rose  so  rapidly  from  so  frightful  an  abyss. 
In  the  autumn  circuits  or  assizes,  for  the  year  1757,  no  one 
was  found  guilty,  in  any  part  of  the  country,  of  a  capital 
crime.  And  now  there  are  very  few  beggars  in  the  country, 
nor  has  any  assessment  been  imposed  for  the  support  of  the 
poor,  except  in  some  of  the  large  towns,  and  in  the  counties 
adjoining  England ;  and  even  that  is  so  light  as  scarcely 
to  be  felt.  In  a  large  part  of  the  country,  nearly  the  whole 
population  is  able  to  read  and  write;  but  in  some  parts, 
chiefly  in  the  Highlands,  the  parishes  are  so  extensive  that 
there  are  many  who  have  no  means  of  education  within 
reach.  Latterly,  also,  the  population  has  advanced  so  rap 
idly,  that  the  parochial  system,  though  it  continues  tolerably 
effective  in  rural  parishes,  became  almost  powerless  in  large 
towns,  and  Scotland  began  to  descend  rapidly  from  her  fore 
most  place  among  educated  nations.  Fortunately,  however, 


PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  31 

a  happy  rivalry  has  been  excited  among  the  different  relig 
ious  bodies,  urging  them  to  strenuous  exertion  in  erecting 
schools  by  means  of  voluntary  subscriptions,  supplemented  by 
Parliamentary  grants.  If  sectarian  influences  could  cease 
altogether,  instead  of  being  strengthened  by  rivalry,  nothing 
would  be  wanting  to  restore  the  proud  position  of  Scotland  in 
the  cause  of  education.  Her  example,  as  she  stands,  is  of 
great  value. 

The  remote  and  bleak  island  of  Iceland  illustrates  what 
has  been  observed  among  the  Norwegians  and  Swedes, 
namely :  the  prevalence  of  family  instruction,  when  schools 
are  difficult  of  access.  Although  Iceland  has  its  college,  with 
eight  professors  and  eighty  pupils,  and  sustains  a  few  public 
schools,  yet  domestic  education  is  universal,  and  the  people 
are  intelligent.  Their  intellectual  capacity  is  of  a  superior 
order.  Peasants  often  are  masters  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages  ;  many  of  the  most  valuable  works  of  European 
literature  have  been  translated  into  the  native  tongue ;  and 
even  the  poems  of  Milton  are  read  and  appreciated  at  many 
of  the  cottage  firesides.* 

The  foregoing  review  of  the  career  and  condition  of  edu 
cation  in  Europe,  exhibits  one  interesting  fact,  that  wherever 
the  family  is  most  firmly  rooted  in  the  affections  of  the 
people — the  predominant  institution  of  society — there  is 
precisely  where  the  school  is  most  prosperous  and  influen 
tial.  There  is  entire  harmony,  therefore — not  the  antagon 
ism  sometimes  asserted  to  exist — between  the  rights  of  the 
parent  and  the  duties  of  the  teacher.  Their  earnest  and  cor 
dial  co-operation  is  the  crowning  excellence  of  the  most  suc 
cessful  systems  of  public  instruction  in  Europe,  especially 
those  of  Germany  and  northern  Europe. 

*  In  this  rapid  outline  of  the  educational  condition  of  the  European 
States,  Spain,  Portugal  and  Italy  have  been  omitted,  so  meagre  and  in 
adequate  is  their  provision  for  that  purpose.  Sardinia  and  Tuscany  are  not 
entirely  inactive,  while  Turkey,  by  an  edict  of  1847,  has  established  a  sys 
tem  quite  on  the  plan  of  northern  Europe.  It  includes  elementary 
schools,  attendance  at  which  is  compulsory  on  all  Mohammedan  children 


32  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEMS   OF   THE 


CHAPTER  II. 

EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS   OF   THE  ATLANTIC  STATES 
AND  BRITISH  POSSESSIONS. 

THE  high  distinction  belongs  to  New  England,  and  promi 
nently  to  MASSACHUSETTS,  of  first  proclaiming  and  establishing 
the  principle,  that  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  government  to 
provide,  by  means  of  fair  and  just  taxation,  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  all  the  youth  of  the  community. 

This  common  school  system  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  in 
stitutions  of  MASSACHUSETTS.  Indeed,  it  is  only  since  the  pe 
riod  of  Independence,  that  any  other  schools  have  been 
known  to  her  laws ;  the  earliest  incorporation  of  an  establish 
ment  for  instruction,  below  the  rank  of  the  university,  being 
that  of  Phillips  Academy,  at  Andover,  in  1780.  The  first 
free  school  of  the  colony  was  that  of  Boston,  where  in  1035,. 
five  years  from  the  settlement  of  that  peninsula,  the  inhab 
itants  voted  in  town  meeting,  "  on  the  thirteenth  of  the  sec 
ond  month,"  "  that  our  brother,  Philemon  Permont,  shall  be 
entreated  to  become  schoolmaster  for  the  teaching  and  nur 
turing  of  youth  among  us."  That  he  served  only  a  short 

who  have  attained  their  sixth  year ;  middle  schools,  in  which  among  other 
branches,  Geography,  History,  Geometry,  and  Composition  are  taught,  and 
colleges,  arranged  under  the  different  heads  of  Military,  Naval,  Medical, 
Veterinary,  Agricultural,  etc.  Most  of  the  medressehs  and  colleges  have 
libraries  attached  to  them,  containing  a  respectable  list  of  works  in  various 
branches  of  literature.  The  authorities  relied  upon  for  the  foregoing  sum 
mary  are,  American  Annals  of  Education,  I,  244  ;  North  American  Re 
view,  XLVII,  274 ;  Barnard  on  Normal  Schools ;  Encyclopedia  Ameri 
cana  ;  Blackie's  Imperial  Gazetteer. 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH   POSSESSIONS.  33 

time,  if  at  all,  is  probable,  because  at  the  end  of  the  same 
volume  of  Record,  with  the  date  of  August,  1636,  is  a  curi 
ous  memorandum  of  subscription  "toward  the  maintenance 
of  a  free  school  master,  Mr.  Daniel  Mande  being  now  also 
chosen  thereto."  So  that  within  five  years  from  the  first 
peopling  of  the  peninsula  of  Boston,  where  the  modest 
wants  of  its  inhabitants  were  yet  very  imperfectly  satisfied,  a 
school  was  established  among  them,  apparently  under  the 
auspices  of  John  Winthrop,  the  first  Governor  of  the  colony, 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  universal  instruction.  And 
this  is  the  foundation  of  the  free  schools,  and  the  popular 
education  of  New  England. 

In  1647,  free  schools  became  a  matter  of  legislation  in  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  by  a  law  then  passed  "  to 
the  end,"  as  the  preamble  sets  forth,  "  that  learning  may  not 
be  buried  in  the  graves  of  our  forefathers,"  it  was  ordered 
that  every  township  with  fifty  families  should  provide  a 
school  where  children  might  be  taught  to  read  and  write; 
and  that  every  township  of  one  hundred  families  should  pro 
vide  a  Grammar  school,  where  youth  could  be  fitted  for  the 
university ;  to  which  another  law  was  added,  in  1683,  provid 
ing  that  every  township  with  more  than  five  hundred  fam 
ilies,  should  maintain  two  Grammar  schools  and  two  "Writing 
schools ;  a  burden  which,  considering  the  feeble  means  of 
the  colony,  and  the  dark  period  when  it  was  assumed,  was, 
no  doubt,  vastly  greater  than  any  similar  burden  that  has 
been  borne  since.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  too,  that  no  legal  re 
quisitions  made  since  have,  even  in  name  and  form,  come  up 
to  this  noble  standard,  established  by  the  founders  of  Massa 
chusetts,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
Charter  of  William  and  Mary,  having  rendered  a  new  law  ex 
pedient,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  province  in  1692,  contain 
ing  provisions  similar  to  that  of  1647,  but  omitting  the  requi 
sition  made,  in  1683,  on  towns  of  five  hundred  families,  to 
maintain  two  Grammar  schools  and  two  Writing  schools.  A 
still  greater  falling  off  followed  the  settlement  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  1780,  though  that  Constitution  solemnly  recognized 

3 


34  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE 

the  duty  of  cherishing  the  Grammar  schools ;  for  by  the  act  of 
1789,  towns  of  five  hundred  families  were  required  to  sup 
port  a  Reading  and  Writing  school  six  mouths  in  the  year,  in 
stead  of  twelve,  as  before,  and  towns  of  two  hundred  families 
were  required  to  have  a  Grammar  school,  instead  of  towns  of 
one  hundred,  as  before ;  and  by  the  act  of  February  18,  1824, 
any  town  might  refuse  to  have  a  Grammar  school  whose  in 
habitants  fell  short  of  five  thousand. 

Massachusetts,  in  182T,  revised  her  school  legislation,  and 
required  that  every  town 'or  district,  containing  fifty  families, 
shall  be  provided  with  a  school  or  schools,  equivalent,  in  time, 
to  six  months  for  one  school  in  a  year;  if  containing  one 
hundred  families,  twelve  months  ;  one  hundred  and  fifty  fam 
ilies,  eighteen  months ;  and  the  towns  are  required  to  raise 
the  sums  of  money  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  schools 
in  the  same  manner  as  other  town  taxes.  In  1834  was  es 
tablished  the  Massachusetts  school  fund,  in  which  were  in 
vested,  by  the  act,  the  proceeds  of  the  Massachusetts  claim 
upon  the  General  Government  for  services  during  the  war  of 
1812,  to  the  amount  of  $280,000,  and  one  half  the  net  pro 
ceeds  of  the  sale  of  Maine  lands,  until  the  sum  amounted  to 
$1,000,000.  Subsequently,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as 
Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Education,  Horace  Mann 
gave  a  remarkable  impulse  to  the  cause  of  education.  Ac 
cording  to  the  census  of  1850,  Massachusetts  had  3,679  public 
schools,  with  176,475  pupils,  and  $1,006,795  income;  of 
which  $37,341  was  from  public  funds.  $16,906  from  endow 
ments,  and  $935,141  from  taxation ;  and  381  academies,  and 
other  schools,  with  12,774  pupils,  and  $310,177  income,  of 
which  $19,470  was  from  endowments.  In  1854,  according 
to  the  American  Almanac,  the  towns  raised  by  taxation,  for 
the  support  of  schools,  $1,013,472.26;  the  aggregate  ex 
pended—including  State  fund— $1,140,132.79;  number  of 
children  from  five  to  fifteen  years,  206.625.  The  amount  of 
State  school  fund  on  December  31, 1854,  had  reached  $1,602,- 
.v. '7.4:3.  The  value  of  the  public  school-houses  in  1848 
was  $2,750,000,  of  which  $2,200,000  had  been  expended 


ATLANTIC    STATES    AND    BRITISH   POSSESSIONS.  35 

since  1838.  There  are  four  normal  schools  supported 
by  the  State,  at  an  annual  cost  of  about  $11,000 ;  one  at 
Westfield,  one  at  Farmingham,  one  at  Bridgewater,  and  one 
at  Salem,  for  girls ;  averaging  annually,  in  all,  about  260  pu 
pils.  Teachers'  institutes  are  frequently  held;  and  State 
Agents  have  been  employed,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  in  visiting  the  different  parts  of  the  State  to 
awaken  the  people  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  instruct 
them  in  relation  thereto. 

The  Board  of  Education  consists  of  the  Governor  and 
Lieutenant  Governor,  and  eight  members,  one  being  ap 
pointed  each  year,  by  the  Governor  and  Council,  for  eight 
years.  There  is  a  Secretary  of  the  Board,  who  has  an  assist 
ant,  and  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  Board.  Provision  is 
made,  by  law,  for  the  education  and  training  of  young  men  to 
be  principal  teachers  in  the  high  schools  in  the  common 
wealth,  by  establishing  forty-eight  State  scholarships  in  the 
colleges  of  the  State,  and  paying  $100  annually  to  each. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Educa 
tion  indicate  very  clearly  that  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  school  system,  consists  in  the  organization 
of  independent  districts,  and  the  fact  that  the  schools  ordin 
arily  maintained  by  them  are  no  longer  capable  of  giving  the 
education  required  by  the  character  of  the  times. 

MAINE  has  derived  the  leading  features  of  her  school  policy 
from  Massachusetts.  By  act  of  April  17,  1854,  provision  is 
made  for  the  appointment  of  a  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools.  His  duty  is  to  "devote  his  time  to  the  improve 
ment  of  common  schools  and  the  promotion  of  the  general 
interests  of  education  in  the  State."  He  is  to  hold  annually, 
in  each  county,  a  teacher's  convention,  for  one  week  at  least, 
of  which  he  has  the  charge,  and  he  is  to  employ  suitable  in 
structors  and  teachers  to  assist  him  therein.  To  defray  the 
expenses  of  these  conventions,  $2,000  are  to  be  appropriated 
annually.  The  permanent  school  fund  is  $125,281,01.  The 
amount  apportioned  for  the  year  1854,  was  $55,860,53. 
Towns  are  obliged,  by  law,  to  raise  annually  an  amount  of 


36  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE 

school  money  equal  to  40  cents  for  each  inhabitant.  The 
number  of  scholars,  in  1853,  was  238,736. 

The  direction  of  the  schools  of  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  is  intrusted 
to  County  School  Commissioners,  who  form  a  State  Board  of 
Education.  The  whole  amount  raised  for  district  schools, 
during  1855,  was  $231,434,92. 

According  to  the  American  Almanac,  VERMONT  had,  in 
1851,  90,110  pupils  attending  her  public  schools,  at  a  cost  of 
$217,402,  of  which  $90,893  was  from  the  public  funds.  The 
office  of  Public  School  Superintendent  having  been  abolished, 
and  the  school  rand  applied  to  pay  the  State  debt,  no  returns 
have  been  received  since  that  year. 

In  KHODE  ISLAND,  great  attention  has  been  paid  to  educa 
tion.  The  school  fund,  invested  in  bank  stock,  amounted,  in 
1854,  to  $61,386.  About  $50,000  is  annually  paid  from  the 
State  treasury  for  public  instruction.  In  1854,  the  towns 
raised  $61,013.  A  State  Normal  School  was  established  by 
the  Legislature  in  May,  1854,  on  the  recommendation  of  E. 
K.  Potter,  Commissioner  of  Public  Schools,  and  $3,000  a 
year  appropriated  therefor.  Teachers'  institutes  are  annually 
held  in  different  localities,  supported  by  the  State. 

The  school  system  of  CONNECTICUT  has  attracted  great  at 
tention,  from  its  ample  endowment.  The  foundation  of  this 
fund  was  laid  in  1795,  by  a  legislative  dedication  of  the  pro 
ceeds  from  the  sale  of  the  Ohio  Western  Keserve,  amounting 
to  $1,200,000.  This  endowment  has  been  increased,  reach 
ing  a  capital,  in  1855,  of  $2,049,953,05 ;  revenue  for  the  year, 
$144,137,73,  or  $1,25  to  each  scholar.  It  has  been  often 
observed,  that  the  effect  of  such  bounty,  dispensing  with  the 
necessity  for  local  taxation  and  effort,  was  rather  deleterious 
than  otherwise.  The  state  of  education  in  Connecticut  is  not 
superior  to  what  it  was  before  the  creation  of  the  fund.  The 
means  of  instruction  had  previously  been  so  excellent,  that  it 
was  very  rarely  that  a  person  could  be  found  who  was  unable 
to  read  and  write ;  but  more  recently  such  instances  are  less 
infrequent.  General  apathy  reigned,  until,  in  1839,  Ilenry 
Barnard  infused  new  life  into  the  system.  His  report,  as 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.  37 

second  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education,  constituted,  of 
itself,  an  epoch.  It  is  characterized  by  Chancellor  Kent,  in 
the  notes  to  the  last  edition  of  his  Commentaries,  as  a  bold 
and  startling  document,  founded  on  the  most  pains-taking  and 
critical  inquiry,  and  containing  a  minute  and  instructive  ex 
hibition  of  the  practical  condition  and  operation  of  the  com 
mon  school  system  of  education.  He  proposed  that  one-half 
of  the  dividends  of  the  school  fund  should  be  proportioned  to 
the  amount  of  money  raised  by  the  school  societies,  (as  the 
township  organization  for  school  purposes  is  styled,)  or  to  the 
number  of  children,  and  the  actual  attendance  for  any  given 
period.  He  farther  proposed  that  the  expenses  of  the  schools 
should  be  made  to  fall,  not  exclusively  upon  those  who  send 
their  children,  but  upon  the  property  of  the  school  society  or 
town  ;  he  stated  that  the  great  instrumentality  in  the  prosper 
ity  of  the  common  school  system,  was  good  teachers,  and  they 
could  be  procured  only  by  education  for  the  very  employment, 
and  by  higher  wages ;  he  urged  that  a  seminary  for  teachers, 
especially  for  females,  with  a  model  school  annexed,  ought  to 
be  endowed  by  the  State  and  private  contributions,  and  he 
pressed,  in  an  animated  manner,  the  necessity  of  the  estab 
lishment  of  normal  schools  for  the  education  of  teachers,  male 
and  female,  qualified  to  conduct  the  schools. 

The  Legislature  of  the  State  has  responded  to  the  zeal  of  its 
school  officer.  A  Superintendency  of  Public  Instruction  has 
been  established ;  high  schools  authorized  and  encouraged. 
The  Legislature  appropriated  $10,000,  in  1849,  for  the  forma 
tion  of  a  State  normal  school,  which,  in  1850,  was  attended 
by  154  pupils.  These  are  educated  gratis ;  but  the  number, 
at  one  time,  must  not  exceed  220.  There  are  schools  con 
nected  with  this  for  exercising  the  pupils  in  the  practice  of 
teaching,  which  had  400  pupils  in  1851.  An  active  zeal  is 
manifested  for  improvement  in  the  modes  of  instruction  ;  and 
to  promote  this  end,  societies  of  teachers  are  formed,  and 
State  and  county  conventions  held.  By  the  revised  statutes 
of  1849,  it  is  made  obligatory  upon  parents,  etc.,  to  cause 


38  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS   OF  THE 

their  children  to  be  instructed  "in  Beading,  Writing,  English 
Grammar,  Geography,  and  the  elements  of  Arithmetic,''  and 
to  be  brought  up  to  some  honest  calling ;  and  in  case  of  their 
neglect,  the  selectmen  of  the  town,  with  the  advice  of  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  may  take  the  children  from  their  pa 
rents  or  guardians,  and  bind  them  to  some  proper  master. 
^  Stubborn  children,  refusing  to  obey  their  parents  or  mas 
ters,  may  be  committed  by  justices  of  the  peace,  on  complaint 
and  due  inquiry,  to  the  house  of  correction  for  a  time  not 
exceeding  thirty  days."  Another  section  provides  that  no 
child,  under  fifteen  years,  shall  be  employed  to  labor  in 
any  business,  unless  he  shall  have  attended  a  competent 
school  during  three  months  of  the  preceding  year.  Massa 
chusetts  and  New  Hampshire  adopt  this  last  provision,  the 
latter  State  making  a  special  application  of  it  to  manufactur 
ing  establishments. 

The  State  of  NEW  YORK  has  so  powerfully  influenced  the 
school  organizations  of  other  States,  that  a  detailed  sketch, 
mostly  compiled  from  an  article  by  S.  S.  Randall,  Superin 
tendent  of  Schools  for  the  City  of  New  York,  and  published 
in  the  American  Journal  of  Education  for  April,  1856,  is 
here  presented. 

At  the  opening  of  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1705 — 
more  than  sixty  years  since — GEORGE  CLINTON,  the  first  Gov 
ernor  of  New  York,  in  his  annual  message,  urgently  and 
earnestly  recommended  "  the  establishment  of  common 
schools  throughout  the  State." 

On  the  llth  of  January  of  that  year,  the  Assembly  ap 
pointed  a  committee  upon  that  portion  of  the  Governor's 
message,  who  reported  a  bill  "  for  the  encouragement  of 
schools,"  which  became  a  law  on  the  9th  of  April,  1795.  By 
this  act,  the  sum  of  $20,000  or  $50,000  was  annually  appro 
priated,  for  five  years,  "  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  and 
maintaining  schools  in  the  several  cities  and  towns  in  this 
State,  in  which  the  children  of  the  inhabitants  residing  in  the 
State  shall  be  instructed  in  the  English  language,  or  be  taught 


ATLANTIC    STATES   AND    BRITISH   POSSESSIONS.  39 

English  Grammar,  Arithmetic,  Mathematics,  and  such  other 
branches  of  knowledge  as  are  most  useful  and  necessary  to 
complete  a  good  English  education."  The  amount  thus  ap 
propriated  was  apportioned  among  the  several  towns,  accord 
ing  to  the  number  of  taxable  inhabitants  in  each ;  and  the 
Boards  of  Supervisors  of  the  respective  counties  were  re 
quired  to  raise,  by  a  tax  upon  each  town,  a  sum  equal  to  one- 
half  of  that  apportioned  by  the  State,  to  be  applied  in  like 
manner.  Under  this  act,  common  schools  were  organized 
in  the  several  counties  of  the  State,  (then  numbering  only 
twenty -three,)  and  from  the  returns  made  in  1798,  it  appeared 
that  the  whole  number  of  districts  in  which  schools  were 
taught,  and  from  which  reports  were  received  in  accordance 
with  law,  was  1352,  in  which  59,660  children  had  been 
taught  during  the  preceding  year. 

On  the  expiration  of  the  five  years  with  which  the  appro 
priation  terminated,  several  ineffectual  attempts  were  made, 
by  the  friends  of  education  in  the  Legislature,  to  continue  the 
system ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  and  eloquent  ap 
peals  of  Governors  George  Clinton,  Jay,  and  Lewis,  and  the 
earnest  efforts  of  other  eminent  statesmen  and  philanthro 
pists,  the  organization  was  abandoned  in  1800,  and  no  effi 
cient  steps  were  taken  for  its  renewal  until  after  the  lapse  of 
more  than  ten  years.  In  1811  a  commission  was  appointed 
by  Governor  Tompkins,  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  Legis 
lature,  "  to  report  a  system  for  the  organization  and  establish 
ment  of  common  schools."  On  the  14th  of  February,  1812, 
a  bill  was  reported,  comprising  substantially  the  main 
features  of  the  New  York  common  school  system,  as  it  ex 
isted  up  to  the  year  1849.  Fifty  thousand  dollars  were  ap-. 
portioned  by  the  State,  from  a  fund  specifically  set  apart  for 
the  purpose,  among  the  several  counties  and  towns,  in  pro 
portion  to  the  population  in  each,  and  an  equal  amount  was 
required  to  be  raised  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the 
respective  counties,  and  applied  to  the  same  object.  The 
aggregate  amount  thus  received  was  distributed  annually 


40  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE 

among  the  several  school  districts,  according  to  the  number 
of  children  of  suitable  age  to  attend  school  residing  in  each, 
to  be  expended  exclusively  in  the  payment  of  the  wages  of 
duly  qualified  teachers.  Three  Commissioners  and  three  In 
spectors  of  Common  Schools  were  annually  to  be  elected  in 
each  town,  and  three  Trustees,  a  Clerk,  and  Collector,  in  each 
district.  A  State  Superintendent  was  required  to  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  Legislative  Council,  upon  which  should  de 
volve  the  general  supervision,  direction,  and  control  of  the 
system.  This  office  was  conferred  upon  Gideon  Ilawley, 
Esq.,  who  continued  to  hold  it  until  1821,  when  he  was  dis 
placed,  from  political  considerations,  and  a  successor  ap 
pointed,  whose  incompetence  was  so  glaringly  obvious  that 
the  Legislature  promptly  abolished  the  office,  and  devolved 
its  duties  on  the  Secretary  of  State,  to  which  office  they  con 
tinued  to  appertain  until  a  very  recent  period. 

The  number  of  districts  organized  under  the  new  system, 
prior  to  the  1st  of  January,  1816,  was  about  5,000,  in  which 
about  200,000  children  were  instructed.  Under  the  adminis 
tration  of  De  "Witt  Clinton,  the  public  interest  was  promptly 
directed,  by  that  eminent  statesman,  to  the  condition  and  ad 
vancement  of  the  common  schools  ;  and  the  impulse  thus 
given  to  the  cause  of  elementary  education  was  energetically 
followed  up  by  his  successors.  The  enlightened  and  vigorous 
supervision  of  the  several  Secretaries — Yates,  Flagg,  Dix, 
Spencer,  Young,  Benton,  Morgan,  and  H.  S.  Randall — gave 
animation  and  life  to  the  entire  organization,  and  has 
enabled  it,  in  the  face  of  many  formidable  obstacles,  to  attain 
to  its  present  pre-eminence.  The  library  system  was  en 
grafted  upon  it  in  1838,  through  the  efforts  and  exertions  of 
Secretary  Dix,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alonzo  Potter,  now  Bishop  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  venerable  James  Wads  worth,  of 
Genessee. 

In  1841,  the  plan  of  county  supervision  was  adopted,  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  Secretary  Spencer, 
and  County  Superintendents  were  appointed  for  each  county 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH   POSSESSIONS.  41 

of  the  State.     In  the  midst,  however,  of  the  rich  harvest  of 
beneficial  results  which  this  system  was  effecting,  the  law  was, 
in  1847,  repealed.     In  1843,  on  the  recommendation  of  Col. 
Young,  the  offices  of  Town  Commissioner  and  Inspector  of 
Common  Schools  were  abolished,  and  that  of  Town  Superin 
tendent  substituted  in  its  stead.     In  1844,  the  State  Normal 
School,  for  the  education  and  preparation  of  teachers,  was 
established.     In  1849,  the  "  act  for  the  establishment  of  free 
schools  throughout  the  State  "  was  passed,  by  the  provisions 
of  which  the  inhabitants  of  each  district  were  authorized  and 
required  to  provide  annually,  by  a  distinct  tax,  for  all  the  ex 
penses  of  supporting  and  maintaining  their  schools,  beyond  the 
amount  contributed  by  the  State,  an  equal  amount  levied  by 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  on  the  county,  and  an  additional 
equal  sum  levied  upon  the  taxable  property  of  each  town. 
This  act,  which  passed  the  Legislature  by  a  nearly  unani 
mous  vote,  was  submitted  to  the  people,  for  their  approval,  at 
the  ensuing  general  election,  and  sustained  by  a  majority  of 
upwards  of  150,000  votes.     In  consequence,  however,  of  the 
neglect  on  the  part  of  the  local  Boards  of  Supervisors  to  pro 
vide  the  requisite  funds  to  be  raised  for  the  support  of  the 
schools,  the  burden  of  taxation  fell,  with  an  insupportable 
weight,  upon  the  districts ;  and  before  any  opportunity  had 
been  afforded  for  testing  its  value,  public  sentiment  in  the 
rural  districts  declared  decidedly  for  the   repeal  of  the  ob 
noxious  law.     The  question  was  again  submitted  to  the  elect 
ors   of  the   State,   by  the   Legislature,  and   at  the  general 
election  in  the  fall  of  1850,  heavy  majorities  were  given  for 
repeal  in  forty-two  of  the  forty-nine  counties.     These  majori 
ties  were,  however,  overcome  by  the  unprecedentedly  heavy 
vote  against  the  repeal,  cast  in  the  several  cities  and  large 
towns  of  the  State,  and  especially  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
The  Legislature  of  1851,  not  feeling  at  liberty  under  the  vote 
thus  taken,   to  repeal  the  act  entirely,  passed  a  new  bill, 
transferring  the  burden  of  taxation,  for  the  support  of  schools, 
from  the  districts,  towns,  and  counties,  to  the  State  at  large — • 


42  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS   OF   THE 

requiring  the  sum  of  $800,000  to  be  annually  levied  and  col 
lected  on  the  taxable  property  of  the  State,  and  applied, 
together  with  the  annual  revenue  from  the  common  school  and 
United  States  deposit  funds,  to  the  payment  of  teachers'  wages, 
the  replenishment  of  the  district  libraries  and  the  purchase 
of  necessary  school  apparatus.  In  case  the  share  of  this  com 
bined  fund,  apportioned  to  the  respective  districts,  and  appli 
cable  to  the  payment  of  teachers'  wages,  failed  to  meet  the 
charge  upon  it,  such  deficiency  was  required  to  be  met  by  a 
rate-bill  against  those  sending  to  school,  as  heretofore  had 
been  usual.  This  act  of  1851  is  still  in  force. 

The  unproductive  capital  of  the  common  school  fund  of 
New  York  consists  of  about  400,000  acres  of  land,  owned  by 
the  State,  chiefly  in  the  northern  section  of  the  State,  the 
value  of  which  may  be  estimated,  in  round  numbers,  at 
$2,000,000. 

The  productive  capital  of  the  fund  is  at  this  time  alxmt.  .$2,400,000. 

The  capital  of  that  portion  of  the  United  States  deposit 
fund,  the  interest  of  which  is  annually  appropriated 
to  the  support  of  common  schools,  is 2,750,000. 

To  which  may  be  added  a  sum  that  will  annually  produce 
an  income  of  $25,000,  reserved  by  the  Constitution 
from  the  income  of  the  last-named  fund,  to  be  added 
to  the  capital  of  the  school  fund 41,606  67. 

Making  an  aggregate  of $5,566,666  67. 

The  annual  interest  on  this  sum,  at  6  per  cent,  is  $344,000; 
of  which  $300,000  is  annually  appropriated  and  paid  over 
for  the  support  of  schools — including  $55,000  for  the  pur 
chase  of  books  for  district  libraries  and  for  school  apparatus 
generally. 

According  to  this  amount,  the  $800,000  required  to  be 
raUi-d  upon  all  the  real  and  personal  property  of  the  State, 
we  have  the  sum  of  $1,100,000  as  the  aggregate  sura  now 
annually  apportioned,  by  the  State  Superintendent,  among 
the  several  school  districts,  of  which  $1,045,000  is  applicable 
exclusively  to  the  payment  of  teachers'  wages,  and  the 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.  43 

remaining  $55,000  to  the  purchase  of  books  and  school 
apparatus.  One-third  of  this  aggregate  amount  is  required, 
by  law,  to  be  divided  equally  among  the  several  districts,  and 
the  remaining  two-thirds  to  be  distributed  among  the  several 
towns  and  counties,  on  the  basis  of  population. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  inhabitants  of  each  town,  in  annual 
town  meeting  assembled,  are  authorized,  if  they  deem  it  expe 
dient,  to  raise,  by  tax,  an  additional  amount  equal  to  their 
share  of  the  State  fund,  to  be  appropriated  to  the  same  pur 
poses  ;  and  many  of  the  towns  are  in  possession  of  local  funds 
applicable  to  this  object,  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands,  orig 
inally  set  apart  by  the  State,  in  each  township,  for  this 
purpose.  These  local  funds  amount,  in  the  aggregate,  to  about 
$20,000.  As  a  still  farther  resource  against  deficiency  of 
funds,  a  rate-bill  may  be  imposed. 

The  officers  of  the  system,  as  already  intimated,  consist  of 
three  Trustees  in  each  district,  elected  for  three  years,  and 
a  District  Clerk,  Collector,  and  Librarian,  who  are  annually 
chosen ;  a  Town  Superintendent,  the  County  Clerk,  who 
transmits  the  reports  of  the  Town  Superintendents  to  the  seat 
of  Government,  and  a  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc 
tion.  Their  respective  duties  can  be  readily  anticipated. 

Provision  is  also  made  for  a  State  normal  school  at  the 
capital ;  teachers'  institutes  in  the  counties,  for  periods  vary 
ing  from  two  to  four  weeks  in  the  spring  and  fall ;  and  union, 
or  graded  schools,  by  a  consolidation  of  contiguous  districts. 

The  grand  result  is  12,000  schools,  taught  for  an  average 
period  of  eight  months  during  each  year,  by  teachers  of  both 
sexes,  in  which  900,000  children  are  annually  gathered, 
under  the  general  and  special  supervision  of  sixty  thousand 
officers  of  various  grades,  with  an  annual  expenditure  of  two 
and  a  half  millions  of  dollars. 

The  exemplary  founder  of  PENNSYLVANIA  took  care  to 
incorporate  with  the  frame  of  government,  prepared  for  that 
province  in  1682,  the  important  truth  "that  men  of  wisdom 
and  virtue  were  requisite  to  preserve  a  good  constitution,  and 


44  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS    OF   TlIE 

that  these  qualities  did  not  descend  with  worldly  inheritance, 
but  were  to  be  carefully  propagated  by  a  virtuous  education 
of  youth."  A  law  was  passed  a  very  few  years  after  the 
colonists,  under  William  Penn,  first  landed  upon  the  soil, 
declaring  that  "instruction  in  good  and  commendable  learn 
ing  is  to  be  preferred  before  wealth."  And  the  law  enjoined 
it  as  a  duty  upon  the  several  county  courts,  to  see  that  all  the 
children  in  the  province  were  instructed  in  Reading  and 
Writing,  so  that  they  might  be  able,  at  least  to  read  the  Scrip 
tures  ;  and  it  imposed  a  penalty  of  £5  upon  every  parent, 
guardian,  or  overseer,  of  sufficient  estate  and  ability,  for  every 
child  not  thus  educated ;  but  this  compulsory  provision  ceased 
to  be  enforced.  The  present  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania 
enjoins  it  upon  the  Legislature,  as  a  duty,  to  provide  by 
law  for  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the  State. 
Under  this  injunction,  a  general  free  school  system  was 
adopted  in  Pennsylvania  as  late  as  183-4,  which  has  since 
been  remodeled  and  improved;  but  still  much  room  is 
left  for  amendment  before  it  can  fully  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  age.  To  the  latter,  Philadelphia  has  long  and  fully 
adapted  her  educational  arrangements. 

By  the  act  of  May  8,  1854,  the  school  laws  of  Pennsyl 
vania  were  carefully  revised.  The  Secretary  of  State  is 
continued  to  be,  ex  qfficio,  the  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  with  the  authority  to  appoint  a  deputy.  The  office  of 
County  Superintendent  is  established;  and  it  is  made  the 
duty  of  that  officer,  who  is  elected  by  the  School  Directors 
of  the  several  districts  in  the  county,  for  three  years,  to  attend 
specially  to  the  schools  in  the  county,  and  to  examine  and 
give  certificates  to  teachers.  The  school  districts  are  put 
under  the  immediate  care  of  the  School  Directors,  who  report 
to  the  County  Superintendent.  Teachers  are  required  to 
report  monthly  to  the  Directors,  and  can  have  no  pay  until 
such  report  is  made.  The  districts,  for  school  purposes,  are 
made  bodies  corporate,  with  power  to  sue  and  be  sued ;  to 
burrow  money,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  one-half  of  one 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.  45 

per  cent,  of  the  assessed  value  of  the  real  estate  of  the  dis 
trict,  to  purchase  ground,  or  build  school-houses.  The  Direct 
ors  are  required  to  establish,  in  their  districts,  separate 
schools  for  mulatto  and  negro  children,  when  they  can  be  so 
located  as  to  accommodate  twenty  pupils ;  and  when  so  estab 
lished,  and  kept  open  four  months  in  any  year,  the  Directors 
shall  not  be  compelled  to  admit  such  pupils  into  other  schools 
of  the  district.  No  district  can  receive  its  share  of  the  State 
appropriation  for  any  year,  until  the  schools  have  been 
kept  four  months  in  such  year.  The  Directors  and  teachers  in 
each  district  meet  annually  before  the  schools  are  opened, 
and  determine  the  school-books  to  be  used  during  the  coming 
year;  and  no  others  but  those  thus  selected,  can  be  used. 
The  County  Superintendents  are  to  report  to  the  State  Super 
intendent  in  June  of  each  year.  In  1853,  the  amount  of  local 
taxation,  for  school  purposes,  was  $1,021,337.34;  while  the 
State  appropriation  has  averaged  $200,000  since  1844. 

The  school  system  of  NEW  JERSEY  is  under  the  direction 
of  a  Superintendent  and  a  Committee,  in  each  township ;  but 
the  organization  is  not  unlike  that  of  New  York.  The 
amount  raised  in  1854  by  tax,  to  support  schools,  was  $210,- 
023.44;  received  from  the  State,  $85,250. 

MARYLAND  has  a  school  fund,  arising  out  of  advances 
made  on  account  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  repaid  by  Con 
gress,  together  with  the  avails  of  a  tax  on  the  capital  of 
every  bank  created  by  the  Legislature.  This  fund,  in  1854 
amounted  to  about  $160,000.  Its  income  is  distributed  to 
the  several  counties ;  and  by  the  County  Commissioners  is 
paid  over,  in  some  cases,  to  primary  schools,  and  in  others  to 
one  or  more  academies.  There  is  no  uniform  system  of  pub 
lic  schools,  each  county  being  left  at  liberty  to  adopt  its  own 
system ;  iA  consequence  of  which  there  is  the  most  gross  ine 
quality  of  school  privileges,  and  an  entire  absence  of  reli 
able  returns  as  to  the  condition  of  such  schools  as  are  es 
tablished.  The  public  schools  of  Baltimore  are  in  a  good 
condition. 


46  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS   OF  THE 

DELAWARE  has  a  permanent  school  fund  of  $435,505, 
which  yielded,  in  1854,  the  sum  of  $33,829  which  was  in 
creased  bj  a  tax,  levied  on  the  several  districts,  of  $24,000. 
The  system  provides  a  free  school  within  reach  of  every  fam 
ily.  The  education  of  10,236  children — in  a  white  popula 
tion  of  71,169 — is  amply  provided  for. 

VIRGINIA  has  grievously  disappointed  the  hopes  of  Jeffer 
son,  whose  scheme  of  popular  education  was  at  least  one 
hundred  years  in  advance  of  his  generation.*  Little  has 
been  done  except  to  encourage  the  University  of  Virginia — 
a  head  without  body  or  members.  There  is  no  general  free 
school  system ;  but  an  appropriation  is  made  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  poor,  amounting,  in  1854,  to  $75,000.  Of  the 
free  adult  population  88,520  were  ascertained,  by  the  census 
of  1850,  to  be  unable  to  read  and  write. 

NORTH  CAROLINA,  in  1850,  had  2,657  public  schools,  with 
104,095  pupils,  and  $158,564  income,  of  which  $42,936  was 
from  taxation,  and  $97,378  from  public  funds.  The  attend 
ance  reached  120,000  in  1855. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA,  in  1849,  sustained  1,023  free  schools, 
with  1,019  teachers,  and  9,122  scholars.  The  Legislature  ap 
propriates  $75,000  annually  to  free  schools.  Governor  Man- 
niiiir,  in  his  message  of  November  28,  1853,  says  that 
"  under  the  present  mode  of  applying  it,  that  liberality  is 
really  the  profusion  of  the  prodigal,  rather  than  the  judicious 
generosity  which  confers  real  benefit."  He  recommended 
uthe  establishment  of  a  Board  of  Education,  and  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  Commissioner  of  Public  Instruction,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  gather  facts  with  regard  to  the  State,  and 
thoroughly  inform  himself  upon  the  systems  of  such  other 
Governments  as  educate  their  people  the  best,  and  report  the 
result  of  his  labors  to  the  Board,  who  together  shall  digest  a 


*  See  Appendix  to  the  report,  for  1854,  of  H.  H.  Barney,  Ohio  School 
Commissioner,  for  a  summary  of  Jefferson's  plan,  of  graded  republican 
schools. 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH   POSSESSIONS.  47 

plan  to  be  submitted  to  the  Legislature  for  ratification  or  re 
jection."  Academies  are  established,  called  the  Arsenal  and 
Citadel  Academies,  in  which  the  youth  are  practically  educa 
ted  in  Military  Tactics,  and  in  Engineering  and  Surveying. 
The  State  provides  annually  for  the  education,  at  the  South 
Carolina  College,  of  one  youth  from  the  Charleston  Orphan 
House,  to  be  selected  as  a  reward  of  merit  by  the  Commis 
sioners. 

GEORGIA  appropriated,  in  1783,  1,000  acres  of  land  to  each 
county,  and  in  1792,  £1,000  were  appropriated  for  the  en 
dowment  of  an  academy  in  each  county,  which  was  increased, 
in  1817,  by  the  further  grant  of  $250,000.  The  former  is 
designated  as  the  free  school  fund,  and  the  latter  the  aca 
demic  fund.  The  University  of  Georgia  was  originally  en 
dowed  in  1784,  by  a  grant  of  40,000  acres  of  land,  not  all  of 
which  became  available.  The  University  has  realized  about 
$130,000  out  of  the  grant.  The  avails  of  the  free  school 
fund  ($23,000)  are  paid  out  to  teachers,  in  each  county,  in  fa 
vor  of  certain  scholars  who  are  reported,  by  the  magistrate,  as 
proper  recipients  of  it,  on  account  of  poverty.  The  number 
thus  aided,  in  1854,  was  20,000. 

The  educational  statistics  of  the  new  States,  as  distin 
guished  from  the  original  thirteen,  are  reserved  for  separate 
consideration,  inasmuch  as  all  the  former — except  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee — are  included  in  the  surveys  of  the  General 
Government,  and  have  been  the  recipients  of  Congressional 
donations  for  the  purpose  of  education. 

As  in  Europe,  the  system  of  public  instruction  seems  to 
flourish  in  northern  latitudes.  The  southern  States,  with  their 
sparse  population  and  slave  tenure  of  labor,  are  disposed  to 
encourage  colleges  and  academies  for  the  dominant  class,  but 
regard  the  free  school  system  as  a  charity  to  the  indigent,  and 
not  an  obligation  to  the  people.  The  contrast  between  the 
different  sections  of  the  Union  is  very  apparent  from  the  fol 
lowing  tabular  statement  of  the  census  of  1850 ;  and  which, 
so  far  as  the  States  westward  of  the  Alleghanies  are  con 
cerned,  anticipates  the  contents  of  the  subsequent  chapters : 


EDUCATIONAL    SYSTEMS    OF   THE 


STATISTICS  OF  THE  WHITE  POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ACCORDING 
TO  THE  CENSUS  OF  1850. 


STATES,  ETC. 

Total  Pop. 

Under  20 
years. 

Over  20  years. 

Number 
attending 
School. 

Whole  No. 

Unable 
to  read 
&  write 

Per 

cent. 
of. 

Rank 
of 

State 

Alabama  . 

426,514 
188,139 

91,635 
363,099 
71,169 
47,203 
591.573 
846,034 
977,154 
191,881 
761.413 
255,491 
581,813 
417,943 
!"-:..  -I.™ 
395.071 
2JW.71H 
594,004 
317,456 
465,509 
3,048,328 
553,0% 
1.955.050 
2,258,160 
143,875 
274.503 
756,836 
154,034 
313,4(12 
894,800 
304,756 
37,941 
6,038 
61,525 
13  087 

248,097 
97,402 
11,378 
153,862 
36,873 
85396 
303.798 
476,823 
565,179 
110,609 
4i.1l.043 
121,458 
---.:<•"•, 
208,084 
416,917 
210,831 
172,469 
334,936 
137,224 
230,849 
1.436,113 
301,106 
1,064,212 
1,162,874 
62,270 
149.322 
440,627 
85,869 
145,989 
481,372 

\M.\-r, 
18,400 
2.C56 
31,572 
6.499 
6,223 

178,417 
64,787 
80,257 
209,237 
34.296 
21,305 
217,774 
369,213 
411,975 
81,273 
332.370 
134,033 
293.417 
209,859 
568,533 
184,240 
183,989 
957,088 
180,232 
234,660 
1,612,212 
251,922 
890,838 
1,095,286 
81,605 
125,241 
316,209 
68,165 
167,413 
413,428 
148,581 
19,541 
3,382 
29,953 
i;.:».- 
5,107 

33,757 
16,819 
5,118 
4,739 
4,536 
3,859 
41,200 
40,054 
70,540 
8,120 
66.687 
21,221 
6,147 
20,815 
27,513 
7,912 
13,405 
36,281 
2,957 
14,248 
91,293 
73,566 
61,030 
66.928 
3,340 
15,684 
77,522 
10,525 
6,189 
77,005 
6,361 
1,457 
649 
25,085 
157 
153 

7.91 
103? 
5.58 
1.30 
6.3? 
8.17 
8.99 
4.85 
7.22 
4.23 
8.74 
8.30 
1.05 
1  M 
2.79 
2.00 
4.53 
6.12 
.93 
3.06 
2.99 
13.30 
3.12 
2.50 
2.32 
5.71 
10.21 
6.18 
1.97 
8.60 
2.08 
3.84 
10.74 
40.77 
1.38 
.25 

23 
30 
17 
3 
21 
24 
28 
15 
22 
13 
2? 
25 
2 
16 
9 
5 
14 
19 
1 
11 
10 
31 
12 
8 

18 
29 
20 
4 
26 
6 

62.778 
23,350 
992 
82,433 
14,216 
4,746 
77,015 
181,969 
2-JO>34 
35,456 
130,917 
32,838 
185,941 
60.447 
220.781 
105,754 
48,803 
95,245 
88,148 
89,775 
687,874 
100,5111 
512,278 
08,111 
•„•-.:<:,'.• 
40,293 
146,130 
19,369 
92.152 
100,711 
56,354 
6,103 
207 
466 
1,875 
2,035 

California 

Connecticut  
Delaware  
Florida. 

Georgia  

Illinois 

Indiana  

Louisiana  

Massachusetts.... 

M     -  ssippi  

New  Hampshire.. 
New  Jersey  
New  York       

North  Carolina... 
Ohio 

Pennsylvania  
Rhode  Island  
South  Carolina... 
Tennessee  

Vermont  

Virginia 

Wisconsin  
District  Columbia 
Miunesota  
New  Mexico  

11,330 

Totals 

19,553,06H 
17,312,487 

".240,581 

8,692,184 

10,860,884 
9,516,538 
1,344,346 

962.H59 
7(57,7H4 
195,114 

4.55 

8.71 

•• 

4,063,046 

Native  
Foreign  

In  speaking  of  the  facts  exhibited  above,  the  Superintend 
ent  of  the  census  remarks :  "  In  New  England  so  admira 
ble  is  the  school  system,  and  so  deserving  of  all  imitation, 
that  only  one  person  in  every  four  hundred  of  the  native 
whites  over  twenty  years,  is  incapable  of  reading  and  writ 
ing.  In  the  south  and  south-west,  the  number  is  one  in  about 
twelve ;  in  the  territories,  one  in  about  six ;  in  the  slavehold- 
ing  States,  one  in  twelve;  in  the  non-slaveholding,  one  in 
forty ;  and  in  the  whole  Union,  one  in  about  twenty-two." 

"The  proportion  of  pupils  to  the  whole  population,  has 
increased  largely  (since  the  census  of  1840)  in -the1  several 
The  proportion  for  the  Union  has  increased  from 


ATLANTIC    STATES   AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.      •  49 

13,189  to  20.14  per  cent.  In  consequence  of  the  large 
influx  of  foreigners,  the  whites  over  twenty,  who  can  not 
read  and  write,  have  increased,  in  every  section,  and  in  the 
United  States,  from  3.77  to  5.03  per  cent.  The  proportion 
of  foreign  illiterate  is  twice  that  of  the  native." 

Within  a  comparatively  recent  period,  the  British  prov 
inces,  on  this  continent,  have  become  distinguished  for  their 
liberal  and  effective  measures  of  popular  instruction. 

In  Nova  Scotia,  the  system  of  Grammar  and  common 
schools  is  established  and  supported  by  funds  from  the  treasury, 
and  by  parents,  and  sums  raised  in  the  parishes.  The  system 
has,  by  several  statutes,  in  1832,  1836,  and  1841,  been  placed 
under  the  management  of  a  Board  of  Commissioners ;  but  it 
is  not  sufficiently  vigorous,  and  a  great  number  of  children 
are  left  without  education.  The  same  remark  will  apply  to 
New  Brunswick.  A  valuable  work  on  "  Colonial  Literature, 
Science,  and  Education,"  by  George  R.  Young,  Esq.,  of  Hali 
fax,  ISTova  Scotia,  exhibits  a  favorable  condition  of  public 
sentiment.  He  urges,  as  the  elements  of  a  perfect  and  mod 
ern  system  of  education,  1.  Infant  schools  for  the  training 
of  children ;  2.  Normal  schools  for  the  education  of  teachers ; 
3.  Common  schools ;  4.  Academies ;  5.  Useful  knowledge 
institutions ;  6.  Itinerating  libraries ;  7.  Colleges  for  the 
higher  branches  of  learning  and  science ;  and,  again,  he  says 
education  ought  to  be  conducted  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  government,  and  regulated  by  law,  and  supported  by 
legislative  funds  or  local  taxation,  and  the  funds  made  per 
manent,  certain,  and  compulsive. 

In  regard  to  East  Canada,  there  has  not  been  any  legisla 
tive  provision,  until  lately,  for  popular  education.  Its  educa 
tional  endowments,  for  colleges  and  seminaries,  were  owing 
to  the  liberality  and  zeal  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  and  they 
have  been  munificent,  and  the  course  of  education  in  them 
has  been  well  conducted,  under  accomplished  teachers. 
Though  they  are  Catholic  institutions,  Catholics  and  Protest 
ants  are  admitted  into  the  best  of  them,  indiscriminately,  and 
no  attempts  are  made  to  convert  the  youth.  But  a  general 
system  of  education  has  not  been  so  successful  as  in  West 

4 


50  EDUCATIONAL    SYSTEMS   OF   THE 

Canada,  owing  to  the  inextinguishable  jealousies  of  the 
French  and  English  populations. 

The  western  province,  or  Upper  Canada,  has  suddenly 
assumed  rank  with  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Michigan — situated 
adjacent  to  these  States,  geographically,  it  has  fully  suc 
ceeded  to  their  educational  impulses. 

In  1841,  a  provincial  statute  was  enacted,  granting  money 
to  each  county,  to  be  expended  in  the  support  of  common 
schools,  on  the  condition  that  the  county  should  raise,  for  edu 
cational  purposes,  an  equal  amount  by  local  taxation.  Sev 
eral  laws,  altering  and  improving  the  details  of  this  system, 
were  subsequently  passed ;  and  in  1850,  all  the  provisions 
of  former  laws,  which  experience  had  sanctioned,  and  others 
which  it  had  shown  to  be  necessary,  were  incorporated  in 
one  statute. 

Before  the  provisions  of  this  law  are  stated,  it  should  be 
premised  that,  by  other  laws,  Canada  West  is  divided  into 
counties,  townships,  incorporated  cities,  and  villages ;  each 
of  which  has  a  Council,  which  manages  its  affairs ;  and  by  an 
act  of  the  provincial  Legislature,  the  sum  of  £25,000,  equal 
to  $125,000,  is  set  apart  as  a  school  fund,  to  be  applied  anu- 
ally  to  purposes  of  education. 

The  school  act  empowers  each  township  Council  to  divide 
the  township  into  school  sections,  answering  to  our  school 
districts,  and  also,  to  establish  a  township  model  school. 
These  sections  are  authorized  to  choose,  at  first,  three  Trustees, 
to  remain  in  office,  respectively,  one,  two  and  three  years, 
and  every  subsequent  year  to  choose  one  to  take  the  place  of 
the  Trustee  retiring ;  and  also  to  decide  in  what  manner  they 
will  procure  the  funds  necessary  to  defray  their  school  ex 
penses  ;  whether  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  by  rate-bills  on 
parents  sending  children  to  the  schools,  or  by  rates  on  the 
property  of  all. 

The  Trustees  are  empowered  to  employ  a  teacher  or  teach 
ers,  male  or  female,  or  both,  and  give  such  compensation  as 
they  may  think  proper ;  to  appoint  a  Collector,  to  estimate  the 
sum  necessary  to  defray  all  expenses  to  issue  their  warrants, 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.  5i 

to  collect  the  amount,  and  to  exercise  a  general  supervision 
over  all  the  schools  in  the  section.  Analogous  provisions,  to 
accomplish  the  same  purposes,  are  made  with  regard  to  in 
corporated  cities  and  villages. 

The  school  fund  before  mentioned  is  apportioned  annually, 
by  the  chief  Superintendent,  among  the  several  townships, 
according  to  the  population  of  each ;  and  by  the  local  Super 
intendents  among  the  sections,  according  to  the  average 
attendance  of  the  scholars ;  and  each  section  is  required  to 
raise  a  sum,  at  least  as  large  as  that  received  from  the 
treasury.  Should  it  fail  to  do  so,  the  county  Council  is  re 
quired  to  assess  and  levy  the  whole  sum,  or  the  amount  defi 
cient,  to  be  expended  for  the  benefit  of  the  section. 

The  county  Council  appoints  a  local  Superintendent  of 
Schools  for  the  whole  county,  or  for  any  one  or  more  town 
ships,  not  giving  to  any  one  Superintendent  the  oversight  of 
more  than  one  hundred  schools.  He  is  entitled  to  at  least 
four  dollars  each  year,  for  every  school  placed  under  his 
charge,  and  may  be,  and  often  is,  allowed  additional  compen 
sation.  He  is  required  to  visit  every  school  once  a  quarter, 
to  deliver  a  public  lecture  in  each  school  section,  once  a  year, 
and  to  report  annually  to  the  chief  Superintendent.  And  it 
is  provided,  that  no  section  shall  be  entitled  to  any  portion  of 
the  school  fund,  from  which  a  satisfactory  report  was  not 
received  the  preceding  year. 

All  the  local  Superintendents,  and  the  Trustees  of  all  the 
Grammar  schools  in  the  county,  are  constituted  a  Board  of  In 
struction  for  the  county.  To  this  Board  is  entrusted  the  duty 
of  examining  all  persons  who  desire  to  be  employed  as  teach 
ers.  Those  whom  they  deem  qualified  they  arrange  in  three 
classes,  according  to  their  qualifications,  and  state,  in  the  cer 
tificate  given,  the  class  to  which  he  who  receives  it  belongs. 
No  person  is  entitled  to  receive  compensation  as  a  teacher 
unless  he  has  such  a  certificate,  and  no  section  can  receive 
any  portion  of  the  fund  unless  a  school  has  been  kept  in  it 
six  months  during  the  year,  by  a  qualified  teacher. 


52  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS   OF   THE 

Besides  the  local  Superintendents,  who  are  required,  all 
clergymen  recognised  by  law,  the  members  of  the  Legislature, 
and  all  magistrates,  are  authorized  to  visit  the  schools 
within  their  parishes,  towns  or  counties,  and  are  desired  to 
attend  especially  the  quarterly  examinations.  The  county 
and  township  Councils  are  authorized  to  raise  such  sums  as 
they  think  proper,  for  public  school  libraries ;  and  general 
regulations  in  regard  to  them  are  prescribed. 

A  Council  of  Public  Instruction,  and  a  chief  Superintendent 
of  Schools,  both  appointed  by  the  crown,  are  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  whole  system.  To  the  Council  is  entrusted  the 
management  of  the  provincial  normal  and  model  schools,  for 
the  establishment  of  which  provision  is  made  by  law ;  it  re 
commends  text-books  and  books  for  the  school  libraries  ;  pre 
scribes  regulations  for  the  organization,  government,  and 
discipline  of  common  schools,  the  examination  and  classifica 
tion  of  teachers,  and  the  establishment  and  care  of  libraries. 
To  the  chief  Superintendent  are  assigned  other  duties  than 
have  already  been  mentioned,  similar  to  those  usually  per 
formed  by  the  same  officer  in  the  States. 

Such  is  a  very  brief  sketch  of  the  system  of  public  instruc 
tion  in  Upper  Canada.  It  is  now  in  active  operation,  and 
the  intelligence  and  zeal  with  which  it  is  administered  justify 
the  highest  anticipations  of  its  success  and  future  usefulness. 
In  July,  1851,  a  normal  and  model  school  was  founded  at 
Toronto,  capable  of  accommodating  two  hundred  teachers  in 
training,  and  six  hundred  pupils  in  the  model  school,  to 
which  eight  acres  of  land  are  attached ;  two  of  which  are 
occupied  as  a  botanical  garden,  three  for  agricultural  experi 
ments,  and  the  remainder  by  the  buildings  of  the  institution, 
and  as  grounds  for  the  gymnastic  exercises  of  students  and 
pupils.  Thus,  lectures  on  Vegetable  Physiology  and  Agri 
cultural  Chemistry  are  practically  illustrated  on  the  adjoin 
ing  grounds,  in  the  culture  of  which  the  students  are  employed 
during  a  portion  of  their  hours  of  recreation. 

The  educational  history  of  Canada  West,  from   1S53  to 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH   POSSESSIONS.  53 

1855,  was  even  more  distinguished.  A  system  of  free  pub 
lic  libraries  was  put  into  successful  operation  ;  the  Grammar 
schools  were  re-organized,  and  salutary  regulations  for  their 
government,  and  for  the  government  of  common  schools, 
were  adopted ;  a  fund  for  the  support  of  superannuated 
common  school  teachers  was  created ;  and  a  special  grant 
made  by  the  Legislature,  to  enable  the  Superintendent  to 
supply  the  public  schools  with  suitable  maps,  charts,  dia 
grams,  and  those  other  useful  and  appropriate  adjuncts  in 
the  process  of  education,  whose  value  has  been  tested  by 
experience.  The  annual  report,  for  1854,  enumerates  3,311 
public  schools,  for  the  maintenance  and  support  of  which 
nearly  a  million  of  dollars  is  appropriated,  with  an  attendance 
of  208,455  pupils.  At  the  close  of  1855,  150  libraries  were 
reported,  containing  120,000  books.  Lord  Elgin,  under 
whose  administration  the  Canadian  system  reached  its  pres 
ent  excellence,  claimed,  in  a  recent  speech  at  Glasgow,  that 
"  the  means  of  obtaining  elementary  education,  free  of  cost, 
and  upon  condition  that  can  do  violence  to  no  rights  of  con 
science,  are  placed  within  the  reach  of  every  child  in  the 
community ;  and  every  child,  who  manifests  superior  intelli 
gence  or  industry,  may  ascend  from  the  elementary  school  to 
the  higher,  in  which  a  superior  education  is  given  upon  the 
same  terms,  and  from  the  superior  school  to  the  university." 
The  claim  is  just.  Canada  is  a  fine  illustration  of  the  Ameri 
can  system  of  general  education. 

Having  thus  passed  hastily  in  review  the  general  features 
of  the  systems  of  public  instruction  in  the  older  States,  an 
imperfect  impression  of  their  utility  would  be  received,  if  the 
remarkable  development  of  their  practical  operation  in  some 
of  the  Atlantic  cities  remained  unnoticed.  Boston,  New 
York,  and  Philadelphia  may  well  claim  pre-eminence  on  this 
continent,  and  are  unsurpassed  by  the  most  advanced  capitals 
of  central  Europe.  It  is  well,  before  limiting  our  attention 
to  the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies,  to  select  the  school 
arrangements  of  the  city  of  New  York,  for  instance,  as  an 


64  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS    OF   TIIE 

instructive  example  of  the  adaptation  of  free  schools  to  the 
highest  educational  wants  of  the  community.* 

There  are,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  twenty-two  wards,  in 
each  of  which  there  are  two  Commissioners,  two  Inspectors, 
and  eight  Trustees  of  Common  Schools,  elected  by  the  people  ; 
the  two  former  classes  of  officers  for  two  years,  and  the  latter 
for  four  years  each  —  one  Commissioner,  one  Inspector,  and 
two  Trustees  being  annually  elected.  These  officers  constitute 
the  local  administrative  board  of  their  respective  wards. 
The  two  Commissioners  of  each  ward  compose  the  Board  of 
Education,  one-half  of  which  is  annually  replenished  by  the 
election  of  new  members,  and  which  has  power  to  organize 
and  establish  schools  in  any  locality  where  their  necessity  is 
certified  to  by  the  local  Boards,  to  make  the  necessary  provis 
ion  for  their  maintenance  and  support,  as  well  as  of  those 
already  established,  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law,  and 
generally  to  exercise  supervisory  powers  over  the  administra 
tion  of  the  system  in  all  its  parts.  The  several  local  Boards 
have  the  immediate  charge  of  all  the  schools  established  in 
their  respective  wards,  and,  under  such  general  rules  and 
regulations  as  the  Board  of  Education  may  see  fit  to  adopt, 
contract  with  and  employ  teachers,  furnish  supplies,  procure 
text-books,  and  make  all  needful  regulations  for  the  good 
order  and  general  discipline  and  management  of  the  schools 
under  their  charge.  A  city  Superintendent  of  Schools,  and 
two  assistants,  are  biennially  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Edu 
cation,  whose  general  duty  it  is  to  visit  every  school  as  often 
as  may  be  practicable,  to  inquire  into  all  matters  relating  to 
their  government,  course  of  instruction,  books,  studies,  dis 
cipline,  and  conduct  ;  to  advise  and  counsel  with  the  Trustees  ; 
to  examine  and  license  teachers;  to  report  monthly  on  the 
condition  of  the  schools  to  the  Board,  and  "generally,  by  all 


*  See  an  article  in  the  American  Journal  of   Education    and 
Review,  for  March,  1856,  by  Hon.  S.  S.  Randall,  Superintendent  of  Schools 
for  the  city  of  New  York. 


ATLANTIC   STATES    AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.  55 

the  means  in  their  power,  to  promote  sound  education,  ele 
vate  the  character  and  qualifications  of  teachers,  improve  the 
means  of  instruction,  and  advance  the  interest  of  the  schools 
committed  to  their  charge."  Tl^e  Inspectors  of  each  ward  are 
required  to  inspect  and  examine  their  respective  schools,  at 
least  twice  in  each  year,  and  annually  to  report  to  the  Board 
of  Education  as  to  the  condition  of  the  several  school  build 
ings  in  their  wards ;  whether  any,  and  if  any,  what  repairs, 
alterations,  or  modifications  are  necessary  or  desirable ;  their 
general  cleanliness  and  order ;  the  mode  and  results  of  heat 
ing  and  ventilation ;  the  studies  pursued ;  the  progress  of  the 
pupils ;  punctuality  of  attendance  on  the  part,  as  well  of 
teachers  as  of  scholars;  the  order,  attention,  and  general 
appearance  of  the  schools ;  the  number  and  qualifications  of 
the  teachers;  and  such  other  facts  as,  in  their  opinion,  are 
important  to  insure  the  discipline  or  extend  the  usefulness  of 
the  schools  under  their  charge.  The  services  of  all  these 
various  officers  and  agents,  with  the  exception  of  the  city 
Superintendent  and  his  assistants,  are  entirely  gratuitous. 

The  funds  authorized  and  required,  by  law,  for  the  support 
of  the  system,  including  all  expenses  for  the  purchase  of  sites  ; 
the  erection  and  repairs  of  school-houses ;  furniture,  fuel, 
books,  and  apparatus  ;  payment  of  teachers'  wages,  and  sala 
ries  of  officers  of  the  Board  are  derived  from  the  following 
sources : 

1.  The  distributive  share,  belonging  to  the  city,  of  the  in 
come  of  the  State  common  school  fund,  and  of  the  annual 
State  tax  of  $800,000  for  the  support  of  schools. 

2.  An  equal  amount,  raised  by  tax  upon  the  city,  with  the 
addition  of  a  sum  equal  to  one-twentieth  of  one  per  cent,  of 
the  value  of  real  and  personal  estate  in  the  city. 

3.  Such  additional  sum  as  the  Board  of  Education  shall  cer 
tify  to  be  necessary  to  meet  the  current  annual  expenses  of  pub 
lic  instruction,  not  exceeding  four  dollars  for  each  pupil  who 
shall  have  been  under  instruction  during  the  preceding  year. 

Under  these  provisions,  fifty  ward  schools  have  been  or 
ganized  and  established,  with  three  separate  and  distinct 


56  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE 

departments  in  each — male,  female,  and  primary — and  up- 
warJ  of  one  hundred  primary  schools.  In  these  schools, 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  pupils  are  annually 
instructed,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  with  an  average 
attendance,  during  the  whole  term  of  eleven  months,  of  some 
60,000.  The  whole  number  of  teachers  employed  exceeds 
1,000,  of  whom  800  are  females ;  and  the  aggregate  annual 
expenses  of  the  system,  over  and  above  the  amount  contrib 
uted  by  the  State,  considerably  exceed  $1,000,000,  of  which 
$450,000  is  paid  for  teachers'  wages,  and  the  residue  for  the 
erection  of  new  school  buildings,  the  purchase  of  sites,  and 
the  incidental  expenses  of  education. 

The  ward  schools  are  divided,  as  before  observed,  into  Gram 
mar  schools  for  girls,  Grammar  schools  for  boys,  and  primary 
departments,  each  occupying  a  separate  story.  The  buildings 
are,  for  the  most  part,  especially  those  recently  erected,  spacious, 
tasteful,  and  commodious — costing,  including  the  sites,  from 
$30,000  to  $60,000  each— well-arranged  and  suitably  fur 
nished.  Each  story  is  provided  with  a  large  hall,  or  assembling 
room ;  that  in  the  primary  is  capable  of  accommodating  from 
five  hundred  to  a  thousand  children,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
building  and  the  number  of  pupils  in  ordinary  attendance ;  and 
that  in  the  upper  departments,  from  three  to  five  hundred  each ; 
also  several  large  and  convenient  class-rooms,  suitable  play 
grounds,  and  separate  front  and  rear  entrances  for  both  sexes. 
The  seats  and  furniture  generally  are  of  the  most  modern  and 
i in  proved  structure ;  and  in  most  of  the  schools,  pianos  are 
furnished  for  the  instruction  of  the  classes  in  music,  in  one  or 
both  of  the  upper  departments. 

The  primary  schools  occupy  a  more  humble,  but  equally 
convenient  grade  of  building — adapted  to  the  accommodation 
of  from  three  to  five  hundred  children  each ;  and  generally 
consist  of  two  stories,  one  for  each  sex.  One  or  two  of 
those,  recently  erected,  are  on  a  larger  and  more  extensive 
scale,  capable  of  accommodating  a  thousand  pupils  ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  several  of  the  older  structures  are  anti 
quated  and  inconvenient,  and  some  still  continue  to  occupy 


ATLANTIC   STATES    AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.  57 

the  basements  of  churches  and  other  public  buildings,  where 
they  were  originally  located  at  an  early  period.  From  these 
schools,  promotions  are  semi-annually  made  to  the  ward 
schools  in  their  vicinity,  and  from  the  primary  to  the  upper 
departments  of  the  ward  schools  themselves.  The  girls' 
Grammar  schools,  the  primary  departments,  and  primary 
schools,  are  under  the  exclusive  charge  of  female  teachers. 

In  these  schools,  all  the  elementary  branches  of  instruction 
are  thoroughly  and  systematically  taught,  and  carefully  and 
frequently  reviewed  ;  and,  in  the  upper  departments,  many 
of  the  higher  branches,  including  Algebra,  Physical  Astron 
omy,  Natural  History  and  Philosophy,  Physiology,  General 
History,  and  Book-keeping,  form  portions  of  the  course. 
Yocal  Music,  Composition,  Declamation,  and  Drawing,  are 
also  universally  practised.  Each  department  is  divided  into 
five  general  classes,  with  as  many  sub-divisions  as  are  re 
quired  by  the  number  of  pupils  in  each — thirty  or  forty  being 
considered  as  many  as  can  profitably  be  taught  by  any  one 
instructor.  The  hours  of  instruction  are  from  9,  A.  M.,  to 
3,  P.  M.,  with  two  recesses  of  half  an  hour  each. 

The  order  and  discipline  of  the  schools  are  uniform  and 
admirable.  Precisely  at  nine  o'clock,  each  department  is 
assembled,  in  a  quiet  and  regular  manner,  in  its  respective 
hall ;  and,  amid  profound  stillness  and  attention,  a  select  por 
tion  of  the  holy  Scriptures  is  read  by  the  Principal ;  after 
which,  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  reverently  repeated  by  the  chil 
dren,  in  conjunction  with  their  teachers,  and  an  appropriate 
hymn  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  sung  by  the  whole  school. 
The  classes  are  then  dismissed  to  their  respective  recitation- 
rooms,  and  the  lessons  of  the  day  entered  upon.  Previous  to, 
and  immediately  after,  each  recess,  the  school  is  again  as 
sembled,  and  a  short  interval  is  devoted  to  singing,  music,  and 
such  general  exercises  as  are  interesting  and  instructive  to 
all.  Noise  and  confusion  are  almost  entirely  unknown  ;  and 
cheerfulness  and  enjoyment,  regularity  and  order,  pervade 
the  entire  group. 

One  of  the  most  striking  and  peculiar  features  of  the  New 


58  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE 

York  system  of  public  schools,  consists  in  the  general  interest 
which  is  felt  and  manifested  in  their  behalf,  as  well  on  the 
part  of  the  numerous  officers  engaged  in  their  administration 
and  supervision,  as  on  that  of  the  community.  Scarcely  a 
day  passes  in  any  of  the  schools  without  the  official  visits  of 
one  or  more  of  the  school  officers,  and  in  many  of  the  most 
advanced  as  well  as  primary  departments,  one  day  in  each 
month  is  specially  set  apart  for  the  reception  of  visitors. 
These  occasions  are  regarded  as  holydays  by  the  schools.  The 
regular  exercises  are  suspended.  The  pupils,  in  their  holy- 
day  attire,  are  assembled,  and  the  spacious  halls  are  crowded 
with  parents,  friends,  and  visitors.  After  the  usual  opening 
ceremonies  are  concluded,  a  few  of  the  highest  class  are 
examined  in  the  various  branches  of  study  in  which  they  are 
engaged.  Compositions  are  read  and  premiums  awarded  for 
good  conduct  and  scholarship ;  specimens  of  Drawing,  Pen 
manship,  Book-keeping,  and  Embroidery  are  displayed,  and 
the  exercises  are  agreeably  diversified  by  music  and  singing, 
and  appropriate  addresses.  A  favorable  opportunity  is  thus 
afforded  to  all  who  are  interested,  to  observe  the  condition 
and  progress  of  the  schools,  while  both  pupils  and  teachers 
are  encouraged  in  their  efforts  for  advancement  and  ex 
cellence.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  frequent  and 
periodical  receptions  exert  a  most  favorable  influence  on  the 
prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  schools ;  enabling,  as  they  do, 
the  public  to  appreciate  their  value  and  to  witness  the  results 
they  are  producing. 

A  thorough  and  complete  public  examination  of  the  sev 
eral  pupils,  by  classes,  is,  also,  semi-annually  made  by  the 
Superintendents,  in  the  presence  of  the  school  officers  of  the 
respective  wards,  and  such  others  as  choose  to  attend ;  and 
in  addition  to  this,  the  officers  of  the  wards  themselves  hold 
periodical  examinations. 

In  the  opinion  of  competent  judges,  no  class  of  schools  of  a 
similar  grade,  which  the  city  affords,  are  superior,  in  point 
of  scholarship,  general  appearance,  good  order  and  disci 
pline,  and  moral  training,  to  those  under  the  charge  of  the 


ATLANTIC    STATES   AND    BRITISH   POSSESSIONS.  59 

Board  of  Education.  Composed,  as  they  are,  of  the  children 
of  all  classes  of  the  population,  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low, 
humble  and  exalted  in  station,  the  standard  of  intellect  and 
of  virtue  is  conspicuous  in  all,  and  all  the  influences  which 
surround  and  pervade  them  are  eminently  favorable  to  the 
acquisition  of  correct  habits,  sound  and  useful  knowledge, 
and  Christian  principles. 

Having  thus  passed  in  review  the  principal  features  of  the 
system,  and  of  the  public  schools  themselves,  the  incidental 
and  auxiliary  provisions  which  so  essentially  contribute  to 
their  advancement  and  success,  remain  to  be  considered. 
These  are: 

1.  The  normal  schools,  of  which  there  are  three  in  num 
ber — one  for  male  teachers,  one  for  female,  and  one  for  teach 
ers  of  the  several  colored  schools.  These  consist  of  all  those 
teachers  in  the  employ  of  the  Board  of  Education  who  do  not 
already  hold  certificates  of  qualifications  of  the  highest  grade, 
entitling  them  to  fill  the  place  of  Principals  or  Vice-Principals 
of  any  of  the  schools.  The  female  normal  school  assembles 
in  the  hall  of  the  Board  of  Education,  on  Saturday  of  each 
week,  and  remains  in  session  for  six  hours.  It  numbers  be 
tween  five  and  six  hundred  teachers,  all  of  whom  are  actively 
engaged  in  teaching  during  the  other  five  days  of  the  week, 
and  is  under  the  immediate  charge  of  a  Principal,  Yice- 
Principal,  and  twelve  assistants,  selected  by  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Board,  and  acting  under  their  general 
supervision.  The  course  of  instruction  comprises  all  the 
branches  of  a  complete  English  education.  The  male  nor 
mal  school  consists,  in  like  manner,  of  all  the  male  teachers 
of  the  several  public  schools,  not  holding  full  certificates, 
and  assembles  at  the  same  place,  on  the  afternoon  of  Tues 
day  and  Friday  of  each  week.  The  colored  normal  school 
assembles,  on  Saturday  of  each  week,  at  one  of  the  ward 
schools  appropriated  to  their  use.  Hitherto,  no  institution 
has  been  organized  for  the  special  instruction  and  prepara 
tion  of  those  designing  to  become  teachers,  but  who  have  not 


60  EDUCATIONAL   SYSTEMS   OF   THE 

yet  entered  upon  the  active  duties  of  the  profession.  The 
Board,  however,  have  taken  the  necessary  preliminary  meas 
ures  for  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution  at  the  ear 
liest  practicable  period. 

2.  The  evening  schools.    These  are  thirty  in  number,  com 
prising  an  attendance  of  nearly  thirteen  thousand  pupils, 
and  are  in  session  for  a  period  of  five  months,  from  the  first 
of  October  in  each  year,  to  the  first  of  March  succeeding. 
They  are  designed  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  those  whose 
avocations  and  pursuits  prevent  attendance  in  any  of  the 
day  schools.     The  range  of  instruction  includes  most  of  the 
branches   ordinarily  taught  in  the  ward   schools,  .with  the 
addition  of  specific  instruction  in  such  of  the  practical  appli 
cations  of  science,  as  are  specially  adapted  to  the  peculiar 
wants  of  the  class  of  pupils  generally  in  attendance.     The 
attendance  in  these   schools  is  rapidly  increasing,  as  their 
benefits  and  advantages  become  more  generally  and  exten 
sively  known  and  appreciated  ;  and  they  are  unquestionably 
destined,  at  no  distant  day,  to  become  an  important  and 
prominent  feature  of  the  general   system.      They  are  also 
under  the  special  charge  of  an  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  the  teachers  employed  are  chiefly 
drawn  from  those  on  daily  duty  in  the  ward  schools. 

3.  The  schools  for  the   instruction  of  colored   children. 
These  are  chiefly  included  in  the  enumeration,  above  given, 
of  the  ward  and  primary  schools  and   departments;    and, 
although  occupying  separate  buildings,  are,  in  all  other  re 
spects,  on  the  same  footing,  and  enjoy  all  the  benefits  and 
advantages  of  those  schools.     There  are  three  large  ward 
schools,  divided  into  male,  female,  and  primary  departments, 
and  five  smaller  and  primary  schools;   comprising,  in  the 
whole,  about  three  thousand  pupils.     The  general  standard 
of  scholarship  and  deportment,  in  these  schools,  is  of  a  very 
high  order,  and  the  qualifications  of  the  teachers,  and  their 
success  in  the  management  and  discipline  of  the   schools 
undi-r  their  charge,  is  worthy  of  all  commendation. 


ATLANTIC   STATES   AND    BRITISH    POSSESSIONS.  61 

4.  Corporate  schools,  participating  in  the  annual  distribu 
tion  of  the  school  moneys.     There  are  twelve  of  these  insti 
tutions,  numbering  in  the  aggregate  about  five  thousand  pu 
pils,  with  an  average  attendance  of  about  half  that  number, 
under  the  immediate  charge  of  teachers  appointed  by  the  in 
stitutions  themselves.     Their  sole  responsibility  to  the  Board 
of  Education,  consists  in  the  proper  expenditure  of  the  funds 
which  they  derive  from  this  source.     They  are  subject  to  the 
visitation  and  inspection  of  its  officers,  and  the  general  course 
of  instruction  corresponds  essentially  with  that  of  the  several 
primary  departments  and  schools.     Among  these  institutions 
may  be  enumerated  the  House  of  Refuge,  the  several  Protest 
ant    and  Catholic  orphan    asylums,    the  Leake   and  Watts 
Orphan  House,  the  House  of  Industry,    and   the  juvenile 
asylums. 

5.  The  free  academy  for  boys.     This  is,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  a  collegiate  institution,  designed  to  carry  its  pupils 
through  the  eotire  course  of  studies  requisite  to  complete  a 
full  collegiate  education.      Any  male  pupil  of   one   year's 
standing  in  the  ward  schools,  and  who  has  attained  the  age 
of  twelve  years,  is  entitled  to  admission  to  the  Preparatory 
department  of  the  academy,  provided,  on  examination,   he 
shall  have  been  found  to  possess  the  requisite  qualifications — 
a  thorough  and  accurate  acquaintance  with  all  the  branches 
ordinarily  pursued  in  the  public  schools.     The  full  course  of 
instruction  in  the  academy  occupies  five  years,  at  the  expira 
tion  of  which  the  pupil  is  graduated,  with  all  the  usual  colle 
giate  honors  and  degrees. 

The  institution  is  under  the  general  supervision  of  a  special 
committee  of  the  Board,  and  the  immediate  charge  of  a  Prin 
cipal,  (Horace  Webster,  L.L.  D.,)  twelve  professors,  and  seven 
tutors.  The  number  of  pupils  at  present  somewhat  exceeds 
five  hundred.  An  active  and  vigorous  competition  exists, 
among  the  several  schools,  for  the  honor  of  furnishing  the 
greatest  number  of  pupils  generally  to  this  institution  ;  and 
the  high  inducements  of  a  finished  education,  free  from 
charge,  operate  as  a  powerful  stimulant  to  all  who  are  eligible 


62  SCHOOL   SYSTEMS   OF   THE  WESTEEN   STATES. 

to  admission.  A  similar  institution  for  the  complete  educa 
tion  of  the  female  graduates  of  the  ward  schools  will,  doubt 
less,  speedily  be  established  under  the  authority  conferred  on 
the  Board  for  that  purpose. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SCHOOL   SYSTEMS   OF   THE  WESTERN  STATES. 

THE  provision  for  public  education  in  the  western  States, 
is  intimately  connected  with  the  munificence  of  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederation.  In  1785,  by  the  cessions  of  the  origi 
nal  States,  whose  conflicting  claims  to  the  western  wilder 
ness  had  endangered  the  revolutionary  cause,  the  region 
north-west  of  the  river  Ohio  had  become  a  domain,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Connecticut  Reservation,  and  some  indefinite 
stipulations  in  behalf  of  Virginia  military  claimants.  These 
western  lands  were  regarded  as  a  great  resource  for  revenue ; 
the  right  of  Congress  to  dispose  of  them  was  unclogged  by 
conditions ;  and  yet  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  deter 
mined  to  recognise,  in  the  earliest  legislation  for  their  survey 
and  sale,  the  paramount  interest  of  public  education. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  1785,  "  an  ordinance  for  ascertaining 
the  mode  of  disposing  of  lands  in  the  western  territory," 
was  perfected  by  Congress,  and  became  the  foundation  of 
the  existing  land  system  of  the  United  States ;  and,  by  one 
of  its  provisions,  a  thirty-sixth  of  every  township  was  ex 
pressly  reserved  from  sale,  "for  the  maintenance  of  public 
schools  within  the  said  township." 

A  township  of  land,  under  the  surveys  of  the  United 
States,  contains  23,04:0  acres.  This  area  is  six  miles  square, 
and  is  subdivided  into  thirty-six  equal  divisions,  called  sec 
tions.  Each  section  contains  C40  acres,  and  every  sixteenth 


SCHOOL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE   WESTERN   STATES.  63 

section  was  reserved,  as  above  stated,  for  the  support  of 
schools.  In  1787,  the  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the 
territory  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio,  was  passed,  which 
confirmed  the  provisions  of  the  land  ordinance  of  1785 ; 
and  further  declared,  that  "RELIGION,  MORALITY,  and  KNOWL 
EDGE,  being  necessary  to  good  government,  and  the  happiness 
of  mankind,  SCHOOLS,  and  the  means  of  EDUCATION,  shall 
forever  be  encouraged." 

The  negotiations  which  led  to  the  first  appropriations  for 
university  purposes  in  the  North-West  Territory,  were  com 
menced  in  the  year  1786,  by  the  Ohio  Company,  and 
concluded  the  following  year  by  a  contract  for  the  purchase 
of  one  and  a  half  millions  of  acres  of  the  public  lands.  In 
this  contract,  in  addition  to  reservations  for  school  and 
religious  purposes,  was  a  provision  for  the  grant  of  two 
outline  townships  as  an  endowment  for  a  university.  These 
two  townships  were  selected  together  at  Athens,  in  Ohio,  and 
the  university  located  upon  them.  The  year  after,  John 
Cleves  Symmes,  of  New  Jersey,  and  his  associates,  made 
application  for  the  purchase  of  another  large  tract  of  land 
between  the  Miami  rivers.  The  school  reservation  in  Symmes' 
Purchase  was  thus  expressed:  "  Of  lot  No.  16,  for  the  purpose 
mentioned  in  the  land  ordinance  of  the  20th  of  May  1785  ;" 
and  one  entire  township  was  granted  perpetually  for  the 
purpose  of  an  academy  or  college,  finally  resulting  in  the 
endowment  of  Miami  University. 

The  intention  of  Congress  unquestionably  was,  that  these 
donations  for  academies,  colleges,  and  universities,  should  be 
inseparably  connected  with  the  provision  for  public  schools 
in  the  townships ;  and  such  has  been  the  result  in  Michigan 
and  Wisconsin,  thus  furnishing  a  higher  gradation  of  com 
mon  or  free  schools.  That  community  is  fortunate  where  no 
institutions  superior  to  the  seminaries  of  the  people — the  latter 
being  the  best  possible — are  regarded  as  a  public  necessity. 

A  long  series  of  acts  have  confirmed  and  extended  the 
policy  of  these  grants ;  although,  in  some  instances,  Congress 
has  relaxed  its  early  condition,  namely,  "  to  each  township 


64  SCHOOL   SYSTEMS    OP  THE   WESTERN   STATES. 

^ 

respectively  for  the  use  of  schools ;"  simply  granting 
section  sixteen,  etc.,  "for  the  use  of  schools  in  the  State." 
By  this  means  greater  equality  of  benefit  is  secured ;  and 
the  administration  of  a  State  school  department  is  much 
facilitated.  The  elevated  policy  of  the  General  Government, 
in  this  respect,  has  been  well  characterized  by  an  American 
statesman,  (Mr.  Gushing,)  as  "  a  noble  and  beautiful  idea 
of  providing  wise  institutions  for  the  unborn  millions  of  the 
west;  of  anticipating  their  good  by  a  sort  of  parental 
providence ;  and  of  associating  together  the  social  and  the 
territorial  development  of  the  people,  by  incorporating  these 
provisions  with  the  land  titles  derived  from  the  public 
domain,  and  making  school  reservations  and  road  reserva 
tions  essential  parts  of  that  policy." 

In  the  organization  of  the  territory  of  Oregon,  in  1848, 
two  sections  of  land  in  each  township  were  set  apart  for 
school  purposes.  The  grant  of  an  additional  school  section 
to  the  new  territories,  was  recommended  by  Mr.  Robert  J. 
Walker,  while  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States ;  and  has  recently  been  made  to  Utah,  New  Mexico, 
Minnesota,  Kansas,  and  Nebraska,  as  well  as  to  the  Pacific 
organizations. 

The  amount  of  lands  thus  appropriated  by  the  federal 
Government,  up  to  January  1,  1854,  is  exhibited  in  the  sub 
joined  table : 

States.  Acres.  States.  Acres. 


Florida, 908,530. 

Alabama, 902,774. 

Mississippi, 837,584. 

Louisiana, 786,044. 

Arkansas, 886,460. 

Ohio, 704,48& 

Michigan, 1,067,397. 

Indiana, 650,317. 

Illinois 978,755. 


Missouri, 1,199,139. 

Iowa, 905,144. 

Wisconsin, 958,048. 

California, 6,719,324. 

Minnesota, 5,089,224. 

Oregon 12,140,907. 

New  Mexico, 7,493,120. 

Utah, 6,681,707. 


48,909,535. 

The  General  Government  lias  also  appropriated  4,060,707 
acres  of  land  in  the  above  States  and  territories  for  the 
support  of  universities. 

Postponing  the  detailed  narrative  of  educational  progress 


SCHOOL    SYSTEMS    OF   THE   WESTERN    STATES.  65 

in  Ohio,  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  will  be  occupied  with 
a  survey  of  the  western  States,  similar  to  the  summaries 
already  given  of  the  Atlantic  States. 

MICHIGAN  was  the  first  State  in  the  Union  that  established 
a  "  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction"  as  a  constitutional 
officer.  The  system  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  the  first 
Constitution  and  laws,  embraced  a  wide  field.  It  consisted  of 
a  head  of  the  department,  designated  as  above,  with  general 
supervision;  a  university,  in  which  education  was  free, 
governed  by  a  Board  of  Regents,  now  elected  by  the  people, 
with  a  local  Faculty;  branches  of  the  university,,  and  a 
system  of  primary  schools,  under  the  management  of  town 
ship  officers,  designated  Inspectors  of  Primary  Schools ;  and 
district  officers,  known  as  Moderator,  Director,  and  Assessor 
of  the  School  District.  To  these  have  been  added,  by  the 
Legislature  of  1850,  a  State  normal  school,  the  exclusive 
purposes  of  which  are  defined  in  the  organic  law,  to  be  "  the 
instruction  of  all  persons,  both  male  and  female,  in  the 
art  of  teaching,  and  in  all  of  the  various  branches  that 
pertain  to  a  good  common  school  education;  also,  to  give 
instruction  in  the  arts  of  Husbandry  and  Agricultural  Chem 
istry  ;  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
in  what  regards  the  rights  and  duties  of  citizens."  This 
school  is  under  the  government  of  a  Board  of  Education, 
consisting  of  three  members  and  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  who  are  elected  by  the  people.  It  went  into 
operation  in  April,  1853. 

The  school  statistics  for  Michigan,  for  1854,  exhibit  129,517 
children  in  attendance  upon  the  schools ;  $130,996.69  appor 
tioned  by  the  State  for  their  support^  $156,916.90  raised  by 
districts  ;  63,763.43  raised  by  rate-bills ;  121,201  volumes  in 
the  township  libraries,  and  $67,179.55  collected  by  a  two  mill 
tax  for  their  increase ;  a  primary  school  fund,  derived  from 
sales  of  lands,  of  $1,384,288.03;  a  university  fund  of  $452,- 
423.07,  and  $56,503.71  from  the  net  sales  of  normal  school 
lands.  A  model  farm  and  agricultural  school  has  also  been 
established  at  Lansing,  during  1855 

5 


66  SCHOOL    SYSTEMS    OF   THE   WESTERN    STATES. 

WISCONSIN  has  adopted  the  policy  of  Michigan.  Public 
instruction  is  under  the  charge  of  a  State  Superintendent,  by 
whose  report  of  December  31,  1854,  it  appears  that  the  capi 
tal  of  the  school  fund  was  $1,160,258.77,  at  seven  per  cent., 
and  which  will  probably  reach  $5,000,000  by  the  sale  of 
lands.  The  university  fund  is  $161,146.61.  Wisconsin  has 
also  instituted  a  library  system. 

INDIANA  has  a  school  fund  derived  from  several  sources. 
Governor  Wright,  who  is  distinguished  for  the  leading  inter 
est  he  has  ttikcn  in  the  subject  of  education,  in  his  able  mes 
sage  of  December,  1853,  estimates  this  fund  at  $4,988,988. 
It  is  made  up  of  the  Congressional  township  fund,  surplus 
revenue,  saline  and  bank  tax  funds,  forfeitures,  and  the 
profits  of  the  sinking  fund;  more  than  $1,000,000  is  not 
at  present  available.  The  receipts  from  the  university  fund, 
for  1852,  were  $15,528,  and  from  the  common  school  fund, 
$73,839.  There  were  expended  for  the  Indiana  University, 
in  the  same  year,  $16,361.  The  Constitution  provides  for 
the  election,  by  the  people,  of  a  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools,  to  hold  office  for  two  years. 

By  an  act  of  1855,  a  State  Board  of  Education  is  estab 
lished,  consisting  of  the  Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  State 
Treasurer,  the  Auditor,  the  Attorney  General,  and  the  Su 
perintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  who  meet  annually  for 
conference,  discussion,  and  the  determination  of  questions 
arising  under  the  school  law.  The  Superintendent  has  the 
general  oversight  of  the  schools,  and  must  spend  at  least  one 
day  a  year,  in  each  county.  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  each 
township  have  the  general  custody  and  management  of  the 
school  property  and  lands,  a  limited  power  to  lay  taxes  for 
building  school -houses,  and  the  authority  to  employ  teachers, 
when  the  inhabitants  do  not  designate  them.  The  inhab 
itants  of  each  school  district  elect,  for  one  year,  a  School  Di 
rector,  who  takes  care  of  the  school-house,  provides  fuel, 
etc.,  and  reports  to  the  Trustees. 

There  is  to  be  assessed  each  year  the  sum  of  ten  cents  on 
each  $100  worth  of  property,  and  fifty  cents  on  each  poll 


SCHOOL    SYSTEMS    OF   THE    WESTERN    STATES.  67 

(except  upon  the  property  and  polls  of  negroes  and  rnulattoes, 
who  have  none  of  the  benefits  of  the  act)  for  the  use  of  the 
common  schools ;  and  one  quarter  of  a  mill  on  each  dollar, 
and  twenty -five  cents  on  each  poll,  for  the  purchase  of  town 
ship  libraries — such  libraries  to  be  purchased  under  the 
direction  of  the  State  Board  of  Education. 

The  State  school  fund  of  ILLINOIS,  derived  from  the  public 
lands,  the  surplus  revenue  of  the  United  States,  and  from 
county  and  township  funds,  yields  an  income  of  $299.047. 
The  whole  amount  expended  for  schools  in  1854,  as  returned 
by  seventy-nine  counties,  was  $308,385.52,  educating  136,371 
children  six  months. 

It  is  provided,  by  the  Constitution  of  IOWA,  that  a  Superin 
tendent  of  Public  Instruction  shall  be  chosen  by  the  people, 
for  three  years ;  and  that  all  lands  granted  by  Congress,  all 
escheated  estates,  and  such  per  cent,  as  may  be  granted  by 
Congress,  on  the  sale  of  the  public  lands  in  Iowa,  shall  consti 
tute  a  perpetual  fund,  the  interest  of  which,  with  the  rents  on 
the  unsold  lands,  shall  be  applied  to  the  support  of  common 
schools.  The  Assembly  shall  provide  for  a  school  in  each, 
school  district,  for  at  least  three  months  in  each  year ;  and  all 
moneys  received  for  exemption  from  military  duty,  and  for 
fines  imposed  by  the  courts,  shall  be  appropriated  to  support 
such  schools,  or  for  the  establishment  of  school  libraries. 
The  money  arising  from  the  lease  or  sale  of  public  lands, 
granted  for  the  support  of  a  university,  shall  remain  a  per 
petual  fund  to  maintain  such  an  institution. 

The  school  fund,  being  the  proceeds  of  lands  sold, 
amounted,  December  4,  1854,  to  nearly  $1,000,000.  It  was 
under  the  management  of  the  School  Fund  Commissioners, 
and  loaned  at  ten  per  cent,  interest.  A  considerable  amount 
of  school  lands  remains  unsold.  There  have  been  sold  univer 
sity  lands  to  the  amount  of  $58,571.31.  The  entire  value  of 
the  lands  is  estimated  at  $200,000.  The  law  provides  for  the 
establishment  of  three  normal  schools,  and  public  libraries. 

MISSOURI  has  a  school  fund  of  $575,668,  and  another  fund 
of  $100,000,  called  the  seminary  fund.  The  State  also 


68  SCHOOL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE    WESTERN    STATES. 

appropriates  one-fourth  of  its  revenue  to  the  support  of 
schools ;  making  an  annual  income  of  about  $200,000,  which 
is  distributed  among  the  counties.*  The  State  University,  lo 
cated  at  Columbia,  in  Boone  county,  is  endowed  with  six  town 
ships  of  land  by  the  General  Government.  From  the  report 
of  the  Superintendent,  made  to  the  Legislature,  in  January, 
1855,  it  appears  there  were  reported,  in  1853,  233,327  scholars 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty,  of  whom  80,605  were 
in  organized  school  townships.  In  1844,  67,974:  children, 
from  an  aggregate  of  202,658,  were  taught  within  the  year. 
There  were  1,117  district  libraries. 

The  school 'fund  in  KENTUCKY  amounted,  in  1854,  to 
$1,400,270.01,  consisting  of  State  bonds  and  bank  stocks, 
besides  an  annual  tax  on  property,  amounting  to  about 
$78,000.  The  number  of  children  reported  in  that  year  was 
207,210 — average  number  at  school,  76,429.  The  distribu 
tion  for  school  purposes,  in  1854,  was  $146,047. 

The  year  1855  indicates  a  new  impulse  to  the  cause  of  edu 
cation  in  Kentucky.  The  people,  by  a  majority  of  57,526 
(all  the  counties  but  five  contributing  to  that  immense  aggre 
gate,)  voted  an  additional  tax  of  three  cents  on  each  $100  of 
taxable  property,  in  aid  of  common -schools.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  3,374  common  schools  in  the  State,  in  which 
about  5,000  teachers  are  engaged  in  the  instruction  of  113,763 
youth.  Transylvania  University  has  recently  offered  prop 
erty  and  funds,  exceeding  in  value  $100,000,  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  normal  school  at  Lexington,  of  which  the 
Legislature  will  unquestionably  avail  itself. 

The  school  fund  of  TENNESSEE,  in  1851,  was  $1,321,655. 
The  expenditure  for  schools  during  the  two  years,  ending 
October  3,  1853,  was  $244,884. 

In  MISSISSIPPI,  there  is  no  uniform  common  school  system 
for  all  the  counties.  Each  township  has  a  school  fund  from 

*  The  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  under  date  of  April  26, 1856, 
announces  that  the  apportionment  of  school  moneys  for  1856  distributes 
$217,674  to  272,093  children,  or  eighty  cents  per  head. 


SCHOOL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE   WESTERN   STATES.  69 

the  lease  of  lands  granted  by  Congress,  mostly  for  ninety- 
nine  years.  The  money  thence  arising  is  loaned  annually, 
at  not  less  than  eight  nor  more  than  ten  per  cent.,  which  in 
come  is  applied  annually  to  tuition.  There  is  also  a  county 
fund,  arising  from  fines,  forfeitures,  licenses,  etc.,  which  is 
distributed  in  those  townships  that  are  destitute,  or  have  but 
a  small  school  fund.  In  all  larger  towns,  public  schools  have 
been  established,  and  there  are  many  flourishing  high  schools. 

ALABAMA  has  a  common  school  fund  of  $2,300,970,  the  in 
come  of  which  is  $237,515.  The  State  University  at  Tusca- 
loosa  receives  annually  $30,000  from  the  State,  most  of 
which  is  the  proceeds  of  an  university  fund.  In  1854,  the 
Legislature  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  as  preliminary  to  a  thorough  revision  of 
the  system.  According  to  the  returns  made  to  him,  in  1855, 
there  were  145,518  children,  between  the  ages  of  five  and 
eighteen  years,  and  about  1,000  schools  in  operation. 

FLORIDA,  although  an  Atlantic  State,  is  here  mentioned, 
because  she  was  the  recipient  of  Congressional  donations — • 
908,503  acres  of  land  having  been  appropriated  for  common 
schools,  and  46,080  acres  for  a  university.  By  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  of  1849,  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the 
school  lands,  or  sixteenth  section,  and  five  per  centum  of  the 
net  proceeds  of  other  lands  granted  by  Congress  for  purposes 
of  education,  of  all  escheated  property,  and  all  salvages,  shall 
constitute  a  school  fund,  for  the  support  of  common  schools 
in  the  State.  According  to  the  census  of  1850,  there  were 
but  69  public  schools,  with  1,878  pupils,  and  $22,386  income. 

In  ARKANSAS,  the  Secretary  of  State  is  ex  officio  Commis 
sioner  of  Common  Schools.  His  last  report  is  dated  13th  of 
November,  1854.  The  returns  to  him  from  the  School  Com 
missioners  are  exceedingly  imperfect.  Only  40  schools  are 
reported  in  the  entire  State.  The  sale  of  the  school  lands 
would  make  a  large  fund.  The  Commissioner  says,  "  The 
great  obstacle  in  the  organization  of  common  schools  is  not 
so  much  a  deficiency  to  maintain  them  "  as  it  is  "  the  indif- 


70  SCHOOL   SYSTEMS    OF  THE    WESTERN    STATES. 

fererice  that  pervades  the  public  miiid  on  the  subject  of  edu 
cation." 

LOUISIANA  has  received  786,044  acres  of  land  for  common 
school  purposes,  and  46,080  acres  for  a  higher  seminary. 
•The  Constitution  provides  for  a  State  Superintendent,  and 
that  free  public  schools  shall  be  established  throughout  the 
State ;  the  proceeds  of  land  granted  for  the  purpose,  and  of 
lands  escheated  to  the  State,  shall  be  held  as  a  permanent 
fund,  on  which  six  per  cent,  interest  shall  be  paid  by  the 
State  for  the  support  of  these  schools.  The  yearly  sum  of 
$250,000  is  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the  free  schools 
of  the  State,  and  is  derived  from  the  levy  of  a  tax  of  one  mill 
on  the  dollar,  and  from  the  imposition  of  a  poll-tax  of  one  dollar 
on  each  white  male  inhabitant  of  the  State.  The  school  fund, 
January  1,  1855,  amounted  to  $461,269.65.  There  is,  be 
sides,  the  seminary  fund,  which,  at  the  same  date,  was 
$151,539.66.  But  these  now  are  funds  of  account  only,  and 
consist  of  a  debt  of  the  State  to  the  fund.  The  number  of 
school  districts  in  the  State,  January  1,  1855,  was  681 ; 
average  attendance,  for  the  year  1854,  estimated  at  36,000. 
The  amount  apportioned  to  the  several  parishes,  for  the  year, 
was  $250,524.56.  The  report  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  contains  but  few  statistics.  The  Governor 
in  his  message  speaks  of  the  "  educational  system  "  as  in  an 
unsatisfactory  condition,  and  as  "  almost  a  failure." 

In  TEXAS,  according  to  the  census  of  1850,  there  were 
349  public  schools,  with  7,946  pupils,  and  $44,008  income, 
with  two  colleges,  and  ninety-seven  academies. 

The  Constitution  of  CALIFORNIA  provides  for  the  election  of 
a  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  to  hold  office  for  three 
years,  and  that  the  Legislature  shall  establish  a  system  of 
common  schools,  to  be  taught  at  least  three  months  in  each 
year.  By  the  same  instrument,  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands  granted  to  the  State  for  schools,  the  500,000  acres 
granted  to  new  States  under  the  act  of  Congress  of  1841,  the 
estates  of  persons  dying  without  heirs,  and  such  per  cent,  as 


SCHOOL   SYSTEMS    OF   THE    WESTERN   STATES.  71 

Congress  shall  grant  on  the  sale  of  lands  within  the  State, 
shall  be  a  fund,  the  interest  of  which,  and  unsold  lands,  are 
to  be  inviolably  appropriated  to  the  support  of  common 
schools.  The  estimated  amount  of  lands  to  which  the  school 
fund  is  entitled,  from  the  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth  sections 
in  each  township  reserved  for  the  use  of  schools,  is  stated  by 
the  United  States  Surveyor-General,  in  California,  to  be 
5,201,24:4:  acres.  The  price  per  acre,  by  existing  laws,  is 
two  dollars,  which  would  give  $11,402,4:88  for  the  school 
fund.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1856,  $28,269.60  was  appor 
tioned  by  the  State  Board  of  Education,  being  the  entire 
income  to  the  State  school  fund  for  the  previous  half  year  ;  of 
the  26,170  resident  children  reported,  6,4:22  form  the  daily 
average  attendance  of  the  common  schools. 

The  munificent  donations  to  the  territories,  when  fully 
secured  and  applied,  will  constitute  satisfactory  endowments 
for  schools.  Minnesota  has  already  organized  a  territorial 
university,  and  entrusted  to  a  Superintendent  of  Public  In 
struction  the  responsibility  of  putting  the  school  system  into 
practical  operation.  Oregon  and  Washington  have  taken 
similar  measures ;  and  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  New  Mexico 
will  doubtless,  at  no  distant  day,  imitate  their  examples. 
With  a  donation  of  lands  double  that  enjoyed  by  the  older 
western  States,  and  with  the  benefit  of  their  experience,  the 
communities  hereafter  to  be  organized  between  the  Missis 
sippi  and  the  Pacific  will  be  very  culpable,  if  they  do  not 
husband  effectually  their  educational  resources. 


72  ADMINISTRATION    OF   ABTIIUE    ST.    CLAIli. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ADMINISTRATION   OF    ARTHUR    ST.   CLAIR— 1788-1 802. 

ON  the  13th  of  July,  1787,  Congress  passed  the  "  Ordi 
nance  for  the  Government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio."  On  the  5th  of  October, 
Arthur  St.  Clair  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Territory, 
"VVinthrop  Sargent,  Secretary,  and  Samuel  Holden  Parsons, 
James  Mitchell  Barmim,  and  John  Cleves  Sy mines,  Judges. 
The  7th  of  April,  1788,  is  the  memorable  date  of  the  set 
tlement  of  Marietta;  and  on  the  9th  of  July,  Governor  St. 
Clair  arrived,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office. 

The  first  allusion  to  the  interests  of  education  in  Ohio, 
is  found  in  an  Oration,  pronounced  at  Marietta,  the  following 
year,  April  7th,  1789,  in  commemoration  of  the  commence 
ment  of  the  settlement  formed  by  the  Ohio  Company,  by  Dr. 
Solomon  Drown,  and  printed  at  Worcester,  Massachusetts, 
by  Isaiah  Thomas.  The  following  paragraph  is  less  am 
bitious,  but  more  worthy  of  quotation  than  the  bulk  of 
the  production  in  question  : 

"This  country,"  he  observes,  "will  afford  noble  oppor 
tunity  for  advancing  knowledge  of  every  kind.  A  communi 
cation  with  all  nations  will  enable  you  to  introduce  the  most 
useful  and  excellent  scientific  improvements,  which  are  to 
be  found  in  every  kingdom  and  empire  on  earth.  Effectual 
measures  have  been  taken  by  Congress,  for  cultivating 
ami  diffusing  literature  among  the  people,  in  appropriating 
large  tracts  of  land  for  the  establishment  of  schools  and  a 
university.  The  institution  of  a  public  library  would  be  of 
great  benefit  to  the  community,  not  only  by  affording  rational 
amusement,  and  ameliorating  the  disposition,  but  by  giving 
those  who  have  not  a  liberal  education,  an  opportunity  ot 
gaining  that  knowledge  which  will  qualify  them  for  useful- 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ARTHUR    ST.    CLAIR.  73 

It  was  not  until  the  population  of  the  territory  had  reached 
5,000,  when  the  people  were  entitled,  under  the  ordinance,  to 
a  representative  government,  that  any  measures  were  taken 
in  regard  to  education.  The  first  session  of  the  territorial 
Legislature,  was  held  at  Cincinnati,  beginning  on  the  17th 
of  September,  1799;  and  Governor  St.  Glair,  in  his  address  to 
that  body,  held  this  language:  "The  benefits  that  result 
from  early  education,  and  due  instruction  in  the  principles 
of  religion,  are  of  immense  value  to  every  country,  and 
are  too  obvious  that  an  attention  to  them,  for  the  rising 
generation,  should  be  pressed  upon  you." 

We  have  the  authority  of  Judge  Jacob  Burnet,  that  "the 
subject  of  education  occupied  the  serious  attention  of  the 
territorial  Legislature ;  and,  among  other  measures,  they 
instructed  the  delegate  in  Congress,  (William  Henry  Harri 
son,)  to  use  his  influence  to  induce  that  body  to  pass  laws 
which  were  considered  necessary,  to  secure  to  the  territory 
the  title  of  the  lands  that  had  been  promised  for  the  support 
of  schools  and  colleges,  including  section  No.  16  in  every 
township,  by  the  ordinance  of  May,  1785,  and  confirmed  by 
another  in  July  1787.* 

By  a  resolution,  at  this  session,  December  18,  1799,  Rufus 
Putnam,  Benjamin  Ives  Gilman,  and  Jonathan  Stone,  were 
requested  to  lay  off,  within  the  two  townships  donated  for  the 
endowment  of  a  university,  a  town  plat,  containing  "a 
square  for  the  colleges ;  also,  lots  suitable  for  house-lots  and 
gardens  for  a  president,  professors,  tutors,  etc.,  bordering  on, 
or  encircled  by,  spacious  commons;  and  such  a  number  of 
town-lots,  adjoining  the  said  commons  and  out-lots,  as  they 
should  deem  for  the  advantage  of  the  university;"  and  they 
were  instructed  to  report  the  same  to  the  Legislature,  at  its 
next  session. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  held  at 
Chillicothe,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1800,  an  act  was  passed, 
incorporating  Griffin  Green,  Robert  Oliver,  Benjamin  Ives 

*  Burnet's  Notes  on  the  North-West  Territory,  p.  305. 


74  ADMINISTRATION   OF   ARTHUR   ST.    CLAIR. 

Oilman,  Isaac  Pierce,  Jonathan  Stone,  and  Ephraim  Cutler,  as 
Trustees,  with  authority  "  to  lease  all  lots  of  lands  granted 
for  religious  purposes,  and  the  support  of  schools,  in  the 
county  of  Washington,  or  the  Ohio  Company's  Purchase,  for 
any  term  not  exceeding  seven  years ;  and  to  require  such 
improvements  to  be  made  thereon,  as  they  might  think 
reasonable/'  This  Legislature  indicated  a  disposition  to  pro 
tect  the  school  lands  from  sacrifice. 

At  the  third  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  January 
9,  1802,  an  act  was  passed,  establishing  a  university  in 
the  town  of  Athens,  in  the  ninth  township  of  the  fourteenth 
range  within  the  Ohio  Company's  Purchase,  by  the  name  and 
style  of  the  "American  Western  University,"  for  "the 
instruction  of  youth,  in  all  the  various  branches  of  the  liberal 
arts  and  sciences ;  for  the  promotion  of  good  education, 
virtue,  religion,  and  morality;  and  for  conferring  all  the 
degrees  and  literary  honors,  granted  in  similar  institutions." 

The  preamble  asserted  that  "institutions  for  the  liberal 
education  of  youth,  are  essential  to  the  progress  of  arts 
and  sciences,  important  to  morality,  virtue,  and  religion; 
friendly  to  the  peace,  order,  and  prosperity  of  society; 
and  honorable  to  the  government  that  encourages  and 
patronizes  them."  The  corporators  were  to  consist  of  the 
President,  ex  officio,  and  not  more  than  seventeen,  nor 
less  than  eleven  Trustees — Kufus  Putnam,  Joseph  Gilmau, 
"Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  jr.,  Paul  Fearing,  Kev.  Daniel 
Story,  Griffin  Green,  Robert  Oliver,  Ebeuezer  Sproat, 
Dudley  Woodbridge,  and  Isaac  Pierce,  being  designated 
in  this  act,  as  the  first  organization.  They  were  empowered 
to  appoint  a  Faculty,  and  other  officers  and  servants  of  the 
institution,  to  make  needful  rules  ;  to  fix  salaries  ;  to  remove 
either  Trustees  or  Faculty,  and  servants,  for  cause;  to  fill 
vacancies  in  their  own  body,  until  the  next  session  of  the 
Legislature  should  supply  the  same ;  to  keep  a  seal ;  to 
execute  deeds  and  instruments  in  writing,  by  the  signature 
under  seal  of  their  Treasurer ;  to  sue  and  be  sued,  provided 
that  the  process  against  the  corporation  should  be,  by  sum- 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ARTHUR    ST.    GLAIR.  75 

mons,  served  upon  the  Treasurer,  at  least  twenty  days  before 
its  return ;  to  have  power  to  divide  and  lease  the  two  town 
ships  donated  by  Congress,  provided,  "  that  no  lease  be 
made  for  a  longer  term  of  time  than  twenty-one  years,"  and 
that  the  tenants  or  lessees  "  should  enjoy  and  exercise  all 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  citizens,  as  if  they  held  the  same 
lands  in  fee  simple ;"  to  apply  the  clear  annual  rents  and 
profits,  as  directed  by  the  act;  to  accept  donations,  if  for 
a  suitable  purpose;  to  lease,  for  a  small  annual  rent,  on 
condition  of  a  capital  sum  being  paid  in  hand,  the  whole, 
or  any  part,  of  the  house-lots  and  out-lots  of  five  acres,  in  the 
town  of  Athens,  as  laid  out  under  the  resolution  of  December 
18,  1799,  by  Rufus  Putnam,  Benjamin  Ives  Gilman,  and 
Jonathan  Stone,  and  apply  said  capital  sum,  or  a  part  thereof, 
in  the  erection  of  necessary  buildings ;  to  elect  a  president 
of  the  University ;  and,  until  such  election,  and  in  all  cases 
of  vacancy  or  absence  of  the  president,  then  the  Trustees 
were  authorized  to  appoint  one  of  their  number  to  preside  in 
their  meetings.  The  Legislature  reserved  the  power  to 
modify  or  change  the  act  in  all  respects;  and  Hufus  Putnam 
was  authorized  to  fix  the  time  and  place,  of  the  first  meeting 
of  the  corporation.  Section  14  provided,  that  the  lands  in 
the  two  townships,  appropriated  and  vested  in  said  Trustees, 
with  the  buildings  which  might  be  erected  thereon,  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  president,  professors,  and  other  offi 
cers,  students,  and  servants  of  the  University,  and  any 
buildings  appertaining  thereto,  and  also,  the  dwelling- 
houses  and  out-houses,  or  other  buildings  of  the  tenants  or 
lessees,  then  erected  and  built,  or  which  might  thereafter 
be  built  and  erected  on  the  lands  within  the  said  townships, 
should  forever  be  exempted  from  all  territorial  and  State 
taxes;  provided,  that  no  exemption  from  the  payment  of 
county  taxes,  or  upon  personal  estates,  should  be  asserted 
under  the  act.  The  Treasurer  of  the  University  was  required 
to  execute  a  bond,  to  the  acceptance  of  the  president  and 
Trustees;  and  it  was  probably  intended  that  he  should 
not  be  of  their  number. 


76  ADMINISTRATION   OF   ARTHUR   ST.   CLAIR. 

Before  dismissing  the  administration  of  Governor  St.  Clair, 
justice  to  him  requires  some  allusion  to  his  efforts  to  secure 
the  township  reserved  from  Symmes's  Purchase,  for  an 
academy  or  college.  In  doing  so,  some  legislation,  which 
occurred  after  the  organization  of  the  State  and  the  retire 
ment  of  Governor  St.  Clair,  will  require  recapitulation.  The 
whole  subject  lias  been  presented  lucidly,  by  Judge  Jacob 
Burnet,  in  his  "Notes  on  the  North-West  Territory,"  and 
free  use  is,  therefore,  made  of  the  testimony  of  BO  com 
petent  a  witness. 

The  ordinance  under  which  the  early  sales  of  the  public 
domain  were  made,  did  not  authorize  a  grant  of  college 
lands  to  purchasers  of  a  less  quantity  than  two  millions  of 
acres.  The  original  proposition  of  Mr.  Symnies.  being  for 
that  quantity,  would  have  entitled  him  to  the  benefit  of  the 
grant,  had  it  been  carried  into  effect.  It  was  therefore  stated 
in  his  pamphlet,  containing  the  terms  of  sale  and  settlement, 
that  a  college  township  had  been  given  and  located  as  nearly 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Licking  river,  as  an  entire  town 
ship  could  be  found  eligible,  in  point  of  soil  and  situation. 
The  selection  of  that  township  was  made  in  good  faith,  on 
one  of  the  best  tracts  in  the  Purchase ;  and  was  marked  on 
his  map  as  the  college  township.  It  was  situated  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Licking,  and  was  reserved  from  sale  for  the 
purpose  intended,  until  it  was  ascertained,  that  the  agents 
appointed  to  close  the  contract  with  Government,  under  the 
powers  given  in  the  letter  of  attorney,  had  relinquished  one 
half  of  the  quantity  proposed  to  be  purchased  by  Mr. 
Symmes ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  had  relinquished,  also, 
his  claim  to  a  college  township.  After  that  relinquishment, 
he  erased  the  entry  made  on  that  township,  on  his  map,  as 
he  had  a  right  to  do;  and  offered  it  for  sale.  As  it  was 
one  of  the  best  in  the  Purchase,  it  was  soon  entirely  disposed 
of.  The  matter  remained  in  that  situation,  until  1792,  when 
the  Judge  applied  to  Congress,  as  is  stated  above,  to  change 
the  boundaries  of  his  Purchase,  and  grant  him  a  patent,  for 
as  much  land  as  he  was  then  able  to  pay  lor.  When  the  bill 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   ARTHUR   ST.    CLAIR.  77 

for  that  purpose  was  before  Congress,  General  Dayton,  the 
agent  of  Mr.  Symmes,  and  then  a  very  influential  member 
of  the  House,  introduced  a  section,  authorizing  the  President 
to  convey  to  Mr.  Symmes  and  his  associates,  one  entire 
township,  in  trust,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  acad 
emy  and  other  schools  of  learning,  conformably  to  tjie  ordi 
nance  of  Congress,  of  October  2,  1787 ;  to  be  located,  with 
the  approbation  of  the  Governor,  for  the  time  being,  of  the 
the  territory  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio,  (within  the  term  of 
five  years,  as  nearly  as  may  be,)  in  the  center  of  the  tract  of 
land  granted  by  the  patent. 

The  fact  was,  that  under  that  ordinance,  the  right  to  the 
township  had  been  lost,  by  relinquishing  half  the  quantity  of 
his  proposed  purchase ;  yet  from  some  cause,  either  from  a 
want  of  correct  information,  or  a  disposition  to  be  generous, 
the  provision  was  retained,  and  became  a  part  of  the  law. 
At  that  time  there  was  not  an  entire  township  in  the  Pur 
chase,  undisposed  of;  portions  of  each  and  all  of  them  had 
been  sold  by  Mr.  Symmes,  after  his  right  to  college  lands  had 
been  lost,  and  before  the  law  of  1792  had  renewed  the  claim. 
He  could  not,  therefore,  make  the  appropriation  required. 

The  matter  remained  in  that  situation  until  the  first  Terri 
torial  Legislature  was  elected,  in  1799.  Mr.  Symmes,  then 
feeling  the  embarrassment  of  his  situation,  and  aware  that 
the  subject  would  be  taken  up  by  that  body,  made  a  written 
proposition  to  the  Governor  of  the  territory,  offering  the 
second  township  of  the  second  fractional  range,  for  the  pur 
poses  of  a  college.  The  Governor,  on  examination,  found 
that  Mr.  Symmes  had  sold  an  undivided  moiety  of  that  town 
ship,  for  a  valuable  consideration,  in  1788,  four  years  before 
the  right  to  a  college  township  existed ;  that  the  purchaser 
had  filed  a  bill,  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  district  of  Pennsylvania,  to  obtain  a  specific  performance 
of  his  contract ;  and  that  the  Judge  had  also  sold  small  por 
tions  of  the  same  township  to  other  persons,  who  then  held 
written  contracts  for  the  same,  in  the  form  of  deeds.  As  a 
matter  of  course  the  township  was  rejected  by  the  Governor. 


78  ADMINISTRATION   OF   ARTHUR   ST.    CLAIR. 

Soon  after  that  occurrence,  the  subject  was  brought  before 
the  territorial  Legislature,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Symmes, 
who  repeated  the  same  offer  to  them.  They  also  refused  to 
receive  it,  for  the  same  reasons  which  had  been  assigned  by 
the  Governor,  as  appears  from  the  Journal  of  that  body.  A 
similar  refusal,  for  the  same  reasons,  was  subsequently  made 
by  the  State  Legislature,  to  whom  it  was  again  offered  by  the 
Judge.  Not  satisfied  with  these  repeated  refusals,  in  1802-3 
he  offered  the  same  township  to  Congress,  for  the  same  pur 
pose.  His  proposition  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  that 
body,  who,  after  hearing  his  own  ex  parte  statement  of  the 
facts  relating  to  the  township,  were  fully  satisfied  that  it 
could  not  be  held  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  offered ; 
and,  therefore,  they  also  refused  to  receive  it. 

It  was  affirmed  in  the  written  communication  of  Judge 
Symmes  to  Congress,  very  correctly,  that  the  Miami  Pur 
chase  did  not  obtain  a  right  to  college  lands,  until  the  law  of 
1792  was  passed ;  that  prior  to  that  time,  he  had  sold  large 
portion^  of  every  township,  in  his  Purchase,  as  he  had  a 
right  to  do ;  that  the  township  he  then  offered,  had  not  been 
resetted  for  a  college,  but  to  be  sold  and  disposed  of,  for  his 
own  benefit ;  and  that  he  had  sold  large  portions  of  it,  as 
early  a*  1788,  but  that  those  sal>es,  in  his  opinion,  were  void. 

Some  persons  had  the  charity  to  believe,  that  when  he  first 
proposed  that  township,  for  the  use  of  a  college,  it  was  his 
intention  to  purchase  out  the  claimants,  which  he  probably 
might  have  done,  at  the  time  the  law  passed  making  the 
grant,  on  fair  and  reasonable  terms ;  but  he  omitted  to  do  so, 
until  that  arrangement  became  impracticable,  and  until  his 
embarrassments  rendered  it  impossible  for  him  to  make  any 
remuneration  to  Congress,  or  to  the  people  of  the  Miami 
Purchase. 

The  delegates  representing  the  territory  in  Congress,  were 
instructed,  from  time  to  time,  to  exert  their  influence  to  induce 
the  Government  to  grant  a  township,  in  lieu  of  the  one 
which  had  been  lost,  but  nothing  effectual  was  accomplished, 
until  the  establishment  of  a  State  Government,  in  1802-3, 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   AETHUE   ST.    CLAIE.  79 

when  a  law  was  passed  by  Congress,  vesting  in  the  Legisla 
ture  of  Ohio  a  quantity  of  land,  equal  to  one  entire  town 
ship,  to  be  located  under  their  direction,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  college  or  an  academy,  in  lieu  of  the  township 
already  granted  for  the  same  purpose,  by  the  act  ^entitled, 
"An  act  authorizing  the  grant  and  conveyance  of  certain 
lands  to  John  C.  Symmes,  and  his  associates." 

In  April,  1803,  the  Legislature  of  Ohio  passed  an  act,  ap 
pointing  Jacob  White,  Jeremiah  Morrow,  and  William  Lud- 
low,  Commissioners,  to  locate  the  college  lands,  amounting 
to  thirty-six  sections ;  by  virtue  of  which  they  selected  and 
located  them,  as  they  are  now  held  by  the  Miami  University. 
In  consequence  of  the  numerous  sales  that  had  been  made  in 
the  Miami  Purchase,  the  college  lands  were,  from  necessity, 
located  west  of  the  Big  Miami  river,  without  the  limits  of 
the  Miami  Purchase. 

In  February,  1809,  the  Legislature  passed  a  law,  contain 
ing  the  following  provision,  to-wit :  "  There  shall  be  a  Uni 
versity  established  and  instituted,  in  manner  hereafter  to  be 
directed,  within  that  part  of  the  country  known  by  the  name 
of  John  Cleves  gymmes's  Purchase ;  which  university  shall 
be  designated  by  the  name  and  style  of  the  Miami  Univer 
sity."  The  act  then  proceeded  to  describe  the  powers  and 
duties  of  the  corporation,  and  to  appoint  Trustees,  etc. ;  it 
then  made  a  formal  grant  of  all  the  land  vested  in  them  by 
Congress,  for  the  use  of  the  Miami  Purchase,  to  the  corpo 
ration  created  by  that  act,  and  their  successors  forever,  for 
the  sole  use  and  benefit  of  the  said  University. 

The  17th  section  appointed  Alexander  Campbell,  the  Eev. 
James  Killburn,  and -the  Rev.  Robert  Wilson,  Commission 
ers,  to  fix  on  the  place  for  the  permanent  seat  of  the  Univer 
sity,  in  such,  part  of  John  0.  Symmes's  Purchase,  as  an 
eligible  place  could  be  found,  paying  regard  to  health,  etc. 

The  19th  section  directed  the  first  meeting  of  the  corpora 
tion  to  be  at  Lebanon,  in  the  county  of  Warren.  At  the 
time  appointed  for  the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Wilson  was  detained  at  home  by  sickness  in  his 


80  ADMINISTRATION   OF    ARTHUR   ST.    CLAIR. 

family.  The  other  Commissioners,  his  colleagues,  attended, 
and  after  having  examined  all  the  places  presented  for  their 
consideration,  including  Cincinnati,  Dayton,  and  Lebanon, 
they  selected  the  town  of  Lebanon,  in  the  county  of  Warren, 
as  the  s*at  of  the  university,  and  made  their  report  accord 
ingly  to  the  Legislature. 

It  was  then  generally  understood,  that  the  seat  of  the  in 
stitution  was  unalterably  fixed,  although  the  citizens  of  other 
places,  who  had  failed  in  their  applications,  were  greatly 
disappointed.  But  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature,  a 
proposition  was  made  by  Mr.  Cooper,  of  Dayton,  to  establish 
the  university  on  the  college  lands,  without  the  limits  of 
Symmes's  Purchase.  This  proposition  was  objected  to,  on 
various  grounds.  It  was  contended  that  the  donation  was 
originally  made  to  the  people  of  the  Miami  Purchase,  for 
their  exclusive  benefit;  that  the  patent  of  1792  granted  the 
township  for  the  sole  intent  and  purpose  of  erecting  and  es 
tablishing,  within  that  Purchase,  an  academy,  etc. ;  that 
the  law,  subsequently  passed  in  1803,  vested  the  land  in  the 
Legislature,  for  the  purpose  of  an  academy,  in  lieu  of  the 
township  already  granted  for  the  same  purpose. 

It  was  further  contended,  that,  by  the  law  of  1809,  the 
Legislature  had  established  a  university  within  the  limits  of 
John  C.  Symme^s  Purchase,  and  had  granted  the  fee  of  the 
land,  to  the  trustees  of  that  institution,  for  its  sole  and  ex 
clusive  benefit ;  that  they  had  thus  executed  their  trust,  and 
exhausted  their  power,  and  that  they  could  not  revoke  that ' 
grant,  or  apply  the  fund  to  another  institution,  established 
without  the  Miami  Purchase.  The  Legislature,  however, 
thought  differently,  and  passed  an  act,  establishing  the  uni 
versity  on  the  land,  without  the  limits  of  John  C.  Symmes's 
Purchase.  That  institution  is  now  in  a  very  flourishing 
state,  and  although  the  original  beneficiaries  of  the  grant  have 
been  wrongfully  deprived  of  their  rights,  yet  it  is  now  too  late 
to  relieve  them,  without  great  temporary  injury  to  the  cause 
of  science,  and  on  that  account  it  is  desirable  that  no  effort  be 
made  to  disturb  the  institution,  or  to  check  its  advancement. 


ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO.  81 


CHAPTER    Y. 


THE   ORGANIZATION   OF   THE   STATE  OF   OHIO— EDU 
CATIONAL  COMPACTS. 

BY  the  act  of  April  30,  1802,  Congress  authorized  the 
organization  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and,  among  other  induce 
ments  for  a  provision  exempting  lands  sold  by  the  United 
States  from  taxation  for  a  period  of  five  years,  proposed, 
"  that  the  section  number  sixteen,  in  every  township,  and 
where  such  sections  had  been  sold,  granted,  or  disposed  of, 
other  lands  equivalent  thereto,  and  most  contiguous  to  the 
same,  shall  be  granted  to  such  township  for  the  use  of 
schools." 

The  Ohio  Convention  accepted  the  proposition  of  Congress, 
but  with  an  important  condition,  as  follows :  "  Provided, 
The  following  addition  to,  and  modification  of,  the  said 
propositions  shall  be  agreed  to  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  namely :  that,  in  addition  to  the  first  propositions  secur 
ing  the  said  section  number  sixteen,  in  every  township  within 
certain  tracts,  to  the  inhabitants  thereof,  for  the  use  of 
schools,  a  like  donation  equal  to  the  one-thirty-sixth  part  of 
the  amount  of  the  lands  in  the  United  States  Military  Tract, 
shall  be  made  for  the  support  of  schools  in  that  tract ;  and  that 
the  like  provision  shall  be  made  for  the  support  of  schools  in 
the  Virginia  Reservation,  so  far  as  the  unlocated  lands  in 
that  tract  will  supply  the  provision  aforesaid,  after  the  war 
rants  issued  from  said  State  have  been  satisfied ;  and,  also, 
that  a  donation  of  the  same  kind,  or  such  provision  as  Con 
gress  shall  deem  expedient,  shall  be  made  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Connecticut  Reserve  ;  that  of  all  the  lands  which  may 
hereafter  be  purchased  of  the  Indian  tribes,  by  the  United 

6 


82  ORGANIZATION    OF   THE   STATE   OF   OHIO. 

States,  and  lying  within  the  State  of  Ohio,  the  one-thirty- 
sixth  part  shall  be  given,  as  aforesaid,  for  the  support  of 
public  schools ;  that  all  lauds  before  mentioned,  to  be  appro 
priated  by  the  United  States,  for  the  support  of  schools,  shall 
IK-  vested  in  the  Legislature  of  said  State,  in  trust  for  said 
purpose." 

Congress,  by  act  of  March  3,  1803,  assented,  enacting 
(section  1,)  that  the  tracts  therein  described  were  "  appro 
priated  for  the  use  of  schools  in  the  State,  and  shall,  together 
with  all  the  tracts  of  land  heretofore  appropriated  for  that 
purpose,  be  vested  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  in  trust, 
for  the  use  aforesaid,  and  for  no  other  use,  intent,  or  purpose 
whatever."  The  same  section  proceeds  to  grant  eighteen 
quarter  townships,  or  one-thirty-sixth  of  the  lands  in  the 
United  States  Military  District,  "  for  the  use  of  schools  within 
the  same  ;"  secondly,  fourteen  quarter  townships,  also  sit 
uated  in  the  United  States  Military  District,  "  for  the  use  of 
schools  in  that  tract  commonly  called  the  Connecticut  Re 
serve  ;"  thirdly,  "  so  much  of  the  Virginia  Military  Reserva 
tion,  to  be  selected  by  the  Ohio  Legislature  from  unlocated 
lands  therein,  as  would  amount  to  one-thirty-sixth  of  the  whole 
tract ;"  and,  fourthly,  (which  is  the  last  clause  of  the  first 
section,)  "  one-thirty-sixth  part  of  all  the  lands  of  the  United 
States  lying  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  which  the  Indian  title  is 
not  extinguished,  which  may  hereafter  be  purchased  of  the 
Indian  tribes  by  the  United  States,  which  thirty-sixth  part 
shall  consist  of  section  sixteen,  in  each  township,  if  the  same 
shall  be  surveyed  in  townships  of  six  miles  square ;  and 
shall,  if  the  lands  be  surveyed  in  a  different  manner,  be 
designated  by  lots."  The  second  section  declared,  "  that  the 
several  appropriations  for  schools,  made  by  the  preceding 
section,"  were  "  in  conformity  to,  and  in  consideration  of, 
the  conditions  agreed  on  by  the  State  of  Ohio,  by  the  ordin 
ance  of  the  Convention  of  the  State,  bearing  date  the  29th 
day  of  November,  1802." 

In  order  that  the  territorial  divisions,  above  alluded  to, 
may  be  fully  understood,  the  Ohio  State  School  Commissioner, 


EDUCATIONAL   COMPACTS.  83 

Hon.  H.  H.  Barney,  in  his  first  annual  report,  presented 
a  synopsis  on  this  subject,  which  is  no  less  minute  than 
instructive.  In  what  follows,  an  acknowledgment  of  indebt 
edness  to  his  sketch  of  the  irreducible  funds  of  the  States,  is 
freely  tendered. 

By  act  of  March  2,  1807,  Congress  appropriated  eighteen 
quarter  townships,  and  three  sections,  to  be  selected  by  lot, 
from  lands  lying  between  the  United  States  Military  Tract 
and  the  Western  Reserve,  for  the  use  of  schools  in  the  Yirginia 
Military  Reservation — thus  removing  a  restriction  contained 
in  the  act  of  1803,  which  confined  their  selection  to  the  Yir 
ginia  Military  District.  In  return,  the  State  of  Ohio  released 
to  the  United  States  the  thirty-sixth  part  of  the  tract  first 
designated,  accepting  the  above  grant  in  lieu  thereof.  It 
may  be  well  to  add  that  the  Yirginia  Military  District,  (or 
the  tract  between  the  Scioto  and  Little  Miami,  reserved  by 
Yirginia  from  her  cession  of  the  territory  north-west  of  the 
Ohio  river,  for  the  satisfaction  of  land  bounties  issued  to  her 
troops  upon  Continental  establishment,)  may  be  traced  upon 
a  township  map  of  Ohio,  as  follows :  It  includes  the  whole 
of  Adams,  Brown,  Clermont,  Clinton,  Fayette,  Highland, 
Madison,  and  Union  Counties ;  half  of  Hardin,  or  Taylors- 
ville,  Hale,  and  Dodley  townships,  and  a  large  portion  of 
Roundhead  ;  part  of  a  single  township  (Goshen)  in  Auglaize ; 
one  half  of  Logan,  or  Rush  Creek,  Bokengehelas  Creek, 
Jefferson,  Perry,  Zane,  and  Goshen  townships,  with  large 
fractions  of  McArthur,  Monroe,  and  Lake,  and  a  smaller  por 
tion  of  Stokes  ;  one  quarter  of  Champaign,  or  Wayne,  Rush, 
and  Goshen  townships,  with  a  large  part  of  Union,  and  a  less 
fraction  of  Salem  ;  the  north-east  and  south-east  extremities 
of  Clark,  being  the  eastern  portions  of  Pleasant  and  Har 
mony,  and  the  southern  portions  of  Madison  and  Greene 
townships  ;  three-fourths  of  Greene,  or  all  of  the  county  except 
Bath  and  Beaver's  Creek  townships,  and  those  portions  of 
Miami  and  Xenia  which  lie  west  of  the  Little  Miami  river ; 
two-fifths  of  Warren,  or  Hamilton,  Salem,  Washington,  and 
part  of  Wayne  townships  ;  a  single  township,  (Anderson,)  at 


84  ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    STATE   OF   OHIO. 

the  south-east.angle  of  Hamilton ;  two-fifths  of  Scioto,  namely: 
Nile,  Washington,  Union,  Brush  Creek,  and  Morgan  town 
ships  ;  three-fifths  of  Pike,  namely :  Camp  Creek,  Sunfish, 
Minim,  Perry,  Preble,  Benton,  Peepee,  and  the  west  half 
of  Jackson  townships  ;  two-thirds  of  Ross,  namely :  Franklin, 
lluntington,  Paxton,  Scioto,  Twin,  Paint,  Buckskin,  Con 
cord,  Union,  and  Deerfield  townships;  two- thirds  of  Pick- 
away,  namely :  Wayne,  Deer  Creek,  Perry,  Jackson,  Monroe, 
Muhlenberg,  Darby,  and  Scioto;  seven  of  the  nineteen  town 
ships  of  Franklin,  namely :  Jackson,  Pleasant,  Prairie,  Frank 
lin,  Norwich,  Brown,  and  Washington ;  a  narrow  belt  along  the 
west  line  of  Delaware,  to-wit :  the  townships  of  Thompson 
and  Scioto,  and  a  fraction  of  Concord  ;  and,  finally,  the  two 
south-western  townships  of  Marion,  namely:  Green  Camp  and 
Bowling  Green — to  the  place  of  beginning,  u  in  a  large,  wet 
prairie,  or  swamp,"  whence  flow,  in  opposite  directions,  the 
Scioto  and  Great  Miami  toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the 
Auglaize  northwardly  to  its  junction  with  the  Maumee  or  Miami 
of  Lake  Erie.  The  sale  of  the  school  lands  allotted  to  the  in 
habitants  of  the  Virginia  Military  District,  occurred  in  pursu 
ance  of  acts  passed  by  the  General  Assembly,  in  1827  and  1828. 
The  United  States  Military  District,  so  frequently  men 
tioned  in  the  present  connection,  was  appropriated,  by  an  act 
of  Congress,  in  1796,  to  satisfy  the  land  bounties  granted  by 
the  Continental  Congress  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
revolution.  It  was  bounded  as  follows :  "Beginning  at  the 
north-west  corner  of  the  original  seven  ranges  of  townships,* 

*  The  ordinance  of  the  Continental  Congress  which  first  provided  for 
the  disposition  of  lands  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio,  passed  May  20, 
1785,  resulted  in  the  survey  of  the  Seven  Ranges,  which  are  bounded  on 
the  north  by  a  line  drawn  duo  west  from  the  Pennsylvania  State  line, 
where  it  crosses  the  Ohio  river,  for  the  distance  of  forty-two  miles  ;  thence 
south  to  the  Ohio  river  at  the  south-east  corner  of  Marietta  township,  and 
thijnce  up  the  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  This  tract  comprises  all  of  Jef 
ferson,  Harrison,  Belmont,  and  Monroe  counties,  most  of  Carroll,  and  small 
portions  of  Columbia,  Tuscarawas,  Guernsey,  Noble,  and  Washington, 
along  their  eastern  boundaries. 


EDUCATIONAL   COMPACTS.  85 

and  running  thence  fifty  miles  due  south,  along  the  western 
boundaries  of  the  said  range ;  thence  due  west,  with  [to  f] 
the  main  branch  of  the  Scioto  river;  thence  up  the  main 
branch  of  the  said  river,  to  the  place  where  the  Indian  bound 
ary  line  crosses  the  same ;  thence  along  the  said  boundary 
line,  to  the  Tuscarawas  branch  of  the  Muskingum  river,  at 
the  crossing  place  above  Fort  Laurens  ;  thence  up  said  river, 
to  a  point  where  a  line  run  due  west  from  the  place  of  begin 
ning,  will  intersect  the  said  river ;  thence  along  the  said  line 
to  place  of  beginning."  The  language  here  quoted,  is  from 
the  act  of  June  1,  1796,  and  is,  geographically,  inaccurate ; 
for  when  the  old  Greenville  line  (the  Indian  boundary  men 
tioned)  reaches  the  site  of  Fort  Laurens,  (near  the  villages  of 
Calcutta,  on  the  southern  border  of  Stark,  and  of  Bolivar,  in 
Tuscarawas  counties,)  there  is  no  need  of  ascending  the  Mus 
kingum  to  reach  a  point  due  west  from  the  place  of  begin 
ning.  A  few  miles  from  the  site  of  Fort  Laurens,  directly 
east,  connects  with  the  north-east  corner  of  the  seventh  range 
of  townships.  The  act  further  directed  this  tract  to  be  sur 
veyed  into  townships  of  five  miles  square ;  and  these  were 
afterward  surveyed  into  quarter  townships  of  two  and  a  half 
miles  square,  containing  4,000  acres  each.  Consequently, 
the  grant  to  the  United  States  Military  District  of  eighteen 
of  these  quarter  townships,  contained  in  the  act  of  1803, 
amounted  to  72,000  acres,  or  about  one-thirty-fourth  of  the 
whole  extent  of  the  District.  The  appropriation  to  the  Con 
necticut  Reserve,  by  the  same  act,  of  fourteen  quarter  town 
ships,  or  56,000  acres,  was,  of  course,  inadequate ;  while  the 
subsequent  allotment  of  eighteen  quarter  townships,  and 
three  sections* within  this  tract,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Virginia 
Military  District,  may  have  amounted,  together  with  other 
locations  .made  between  the  Scioto  and  Little  Miami,  from 
1803  to  1S07,  to  the  proportion  of  one-thirty-sixth  of  the 
lands  in  the  latter  tract. 

The  school  lands  originally  granted  to  the  United  States 
Military  District,  remained  under  lease  until  1827-8,  when 
the  inhabitants  were  authorized  to  vote  their  consent  to  sell 


86  ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    STATE   OF   OHIO. 

them,  which  was  done,  and  their  proceeds  now  constitute  a 
portion  of  the  irreducible  fund.  The  district  entitled  to  a 
uniform  division  of  their  yearly  income,  may  thus  be  de 
signated  on  the  map  of  Ohio:  The  whole  of  Coshocton 
county,  and  the  following  fractions,  greater  or  less,  of  the 
adjacent  counties  of  Tuscarawas,  all  except  most  of  Warren 
and  Union,  and  smaller  portions  of  Will  and  Rush  town 
ships;  of  Guernsey,  all  except  Londonderry  and  Oxford  on 
the  eastern,  and  Spencer  on  the  southern  border ;  of  Noble, 
sections  10,  20,  21,  and  22,  in  township  one,  range  one,  west 
of  the  seven  ranges  ;  of  Muskingum,  whatever  lies  north  of 
the  latitude  of  Zauesville,  namely :  Union,  Perry,  Washington, 
Falls,  Hopewell,  Highland,  Salem,  Muskingum,  Licking, 
Monroe,  Adams,  Madison,  Jefferson,  and  Jackson ;  of 
Holmes,  all  but  Washington  and  Ripley,  and  portions  of 
Prairie,  Salt  Creek,  Paint,  Knox,  and  Monroe;  of  Licking, 
all  but  Etna  and  Bowling  Green,  and  parts  of  Union  and 
Licking,  which  constitute  its  southern  border ;  of  Knox,  all 
but  a  narrow  wedge  extending  from  west  to  east,  along  the 
northern  line  of  Middlebury  and  Berlin ;  about  half  of  Morrow, 
namely:  Chester,  Bloomfield,  Harmony,  Bennington,  Penn, 
Lincoln,  Westfield,  and  part  of  Franklin  townships ;  most  of 
Delaware,  all  except  the  narrow  belt  west  of  the  Scioto ;  and 
of  Franklin,  the  north-eastern  townships  of  Jefferson,  Mifflin, 
Clinton,  Plain,  Blendon,  Sharon,  and  Perry. 

The  donation  of  56,000  acres,  for  the  use  of  schools  on  the 
Western  Reserve,  was  probably  one-thirty-sixth  of  the  land 
east  of  the  Cuyahoga  river;  but  when,  in  1805,  the  Indian 
title  was  extinguished  by  the  treaty  of  "Fort  Industry,  on 
the  Miami  of  the  Lake,"  east  of  the  meridian  line  drawn 
from  Lake  Erie  along  the  western  limit  of  the  Connecticut 
Reserve,  and  thence  south  to  the  Greenville  line,  it  became 
the  duty  of  Congress  to  furnish  a  due  proportion  of  school 
land  for  the  remainder  of  the  Reserve,  which  was  estimated 
by  a  memorial  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  dated  January  21, 
1827,  to  be  43,000  acres.  It  was  not,  however,  until  June 
19,  1834,  that  an  act  of  Congress  was  passed,  directing  the 


EDUCATIONAL   COMPACTS.  87 

President  of  the  United  States  to  reserve  from  sale,  public 
lands  in  Ohio,  sufficient,  in  addition  to  the  grant  of  1803,  to 
constitute  one-thirty-sixth  of  the  area  of  the  Western  Reserve, 
for  the  use  of  schools.  Under  this  act,  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  State  of  Ohio  became  entitled  to  37,758  acres,  most 
of  which  was  located  in  the  counties  of  Defiance,  Henry, 
Williams,  Paulding,  Yanwert,  and  Putnam ;  in  1848,  the 
people  of  the  Western  Reserve,  by  a  vote  authorized  by  the 
General  Assembly,  decided  in  favor  of  their  sale  ;  in  1850, 
provision  wTas  made  for  their  appraisement  and  sale,  and  the 
lands  in  question  are  now  generally  disposed  of.  An  income 
of  six  per  cent,  upon  their  net  proceeds,  is  paid  to  the  coun 
ties  of  Ashtabula,  Trumbull,  Lake,  Geauga,  Portage,  Cuya- 
hoga,  Medina,  Lorain,  Huron,  and  Erie  ;  to  ten  townships  of 
Mahoning,  namely :  Berlin,  Ellsworth,  Canfield,  Boardman, 
Poland,  Milton,  Jackson,  Austintown,  Youngstown,  and  Coits- 
ville  ;  to  all  of  Summit,  except  Franklin  and  Greene  town 
ships  ;  to  three  townships  of  Ashland,  namely :  Ruggles,  Troy, 
and  Sullivan ;  and  the  eastern  extremity  of  Ottawa,  consist 
ing  of  Danbury  township,  and  a  portion  of  the  Bass  islands 
in  Lake  Erie. 

The  Moravian  school  fund  also  requires  some  explanation. 
Congress,  at  an  early  day,  granted  three  tracts  of  4,000  acres 
each,  to  the  Society  of  United  Brethren,  for  propagating  the 
Gospel  among  the  heathen,  in  trust  for  the  Christian  Indians 
of  the  Muskingum.  These  tracts  included  the  missionary 
stations  of  Schcenbrunn,  Gnattenhutten,  and  Salem,  in  Tus- 
carawas  county,  and  were  re-conveyed  in  1824,  to  the  United 
States,  in  consideration  of  certain  provisions  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Society,  and  the  remnant  of  Indians  then  surviving. 
By  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  the  same  year,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  was  allowed  to  set  apart,  from  the  sale  of 
these  lands,  one  lot,  not  exceeding  one-thirty-sixth  part  of 
each  tract,  the  title  being  vested  in  the  Legislature  of  Ohio, 
in  trust  for  the  use  of  schools,  in  the  same  manner  that  other 
lands  have  been  granted  for  that  purpose. 

By  a  communication  from  Hon.  F.  M.  Wright,  the  Auditor 


88  ADMINISTRATION    OF    EDWARD   TIFFIN. 

of  State,  it  appears  that  the  total  amount  of  payments 
into  the  State  treasury  on  the  sum  constituting  the  school  trust 
fund,  or  the  bulk  of  the  "  irreducible  debt  of  Ohio,"  was  as 
follows : 

Virginia  military  school  fund $152,495  54. 

United  States  "          "      120,53241. 

Western  Keserve     "          "      254,027  64. 

Section  sixteen  1,722,241  92. 

Moravian    3,160  58. 


$2,252,458  09. 

The  State  receives  these  funds  as  a  perpetual  loan,  and 
pays  an  annual  interest  of  six  per  cent,  thereon,  for  distribu 
tion  in  the  localities  entitled  to  the  proceeds. 

In  order  fully  to  understand  the  concurrent  legislation  by 
Congress  and  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  1802,  subsequent  enact 
ments  have  been  anticipated,  thereby  relieving  a  merely 
chronological  summary ;  but  the  latter  form  of  narrative  has 
its  advantages ;  and  it  is  now  proposed  to  continue,  in  the 
ensuing  chapters,  the  educational  annals  of  the  State  of 
Ohio  during  its  earliest  periods. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  EDWARD   TIFFIN— 1803-1807. 

THE  earliest  State  Legislature,  as  well  as  that  of  the  terri 
tory,  indicated  sanguine  expectations  that  the  land  donations 
of  Congress  would  be  adequate  to  sustain  schools,  including 
a  higher  grade  of  institutions.  This  is  apparent  from  the 
Bill  of  Eights,  article  viii,  section  25,  of  the  Constitution 
of  1802  : 

"That  no  law  shall  be  passed  to  prevent  tlio  poor,  in 
the  several  counties  and  townships  within  this  State,  from  an 
equal  participation  in  the  schools,  acadt -mies,  colleges,  and 


ADMINISTRATION    OF    EDWAKD   TIFFIN.  89 

universities  within  this  State,  which  are  endowed,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  from  the  revenue  arising  from  donations  made  by 
the  United  States,  for  the  support  of  schools  and  colleges; 
and  the  doors  of  the  said  schools,  academies,  and  univer 
sities,  shall  be  open  for  the  reception  of  scholars,  students, 
and  teachers,  of  every  grade,  without  any  distinction  or 
preference  whatever,  contrary  to  the  intent  for  which  said 
donations  were  made." 

A  prior  clause  of  the  same  article,  (section  3,)  had  de 
clared,  in  language  made  familiar  by  frequent  citation,  that 
"  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge,  being  essentially  neces 
sary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools,  and  the  means  of  instruction,  shall  forever  be 
encouraged,  by  legislative  provisions,  not  inconsistent  with 
the  rights  of  conscience." 

In  the  first  message  of  Governor  EDWAKD  TIFFIN,  March 
4,  1803,  he  congratulates  the  General  Assembly,  that  "  the 
liberal  grants  of  land  made  by  the  United  States,  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  and  endowing  universities  and  other 
seminaries  of  learning,  and  for  the  support  of  religion,  are 
advantages,  in  these  respects,  superior  to  those  which,  per 
haps,  any  other  country  can  boast  of." 

Legislation  speedily  followed ;  and,  as  a  contrast  to  the 
subsequent  disposition  of  school  lands,  it  may  be  well  to 
reproduce  the  first  law  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
Ohio,  in  regard  to  the  fund  arising  from  the  proceeds  of 
section  sixteen,  (see  Ohio  Laws,  vol.  I,  p.  61,  chapter  xix): 

"  AN  ACT  to  provide  for  the  leasing  of  certain  lands  therein 
named. 

"SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  "by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  That  the  lands  granted  for  the  support  of 
schools,  in  the  several  parts  of  the  State,  shall  be  let,  on 
lease,  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  same,  and  thereby 
rendering  them  productive,  that  the  profits  arising  therefrom 
may  be  applied  to  the  support  of  schools,  according  to  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  original  donation,  and  the 
several  laws  of  the  United  States,  reserving,  granting,  and 
appropriating  the  same. 

"SEC.  2.  That  all  the  lands  lying  within  the  United  States 
Military  Tract,  which  have  been  appropriated  for  the  use 


90  ADMINISTRATION    OF    EDWARD   TIFFIN. 

of  schools,  shall  be  let  to  lease  for  any  term  not  exceeding 
fifteen  years ;  and,  that  section  number  sixteen,  in  all  other 
parts  of  the  State,  (except  such  as  have  been  heretofore 
leased  by  persons  legally  qualified  to  lease  the  same,)  and 
the  sections  that  shall  be  located  in  lieu  of  such  as  have  been 
sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of,  by  the  United  States,  so  soon 
as  they  shall  be  selected  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
shall  be  let  to  lease,  for  any  term  not  exceeding  seven  years. 

"SEC.  3.  That  on  each  tract  of  land,  consisting  of  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty  acres,  or  more,  there  shall  be  required  the  fol 
lowing  improvements,  to-wit:  Fifteen  acres  cleared,  and 
fenced  in  separate  fields  or  parcels,  one  parcel  or  lot  of  which 
to  consist  of  five  acres,  with  all  the  timber  and  other  wood 
cut  and  cleared  oft',  and  sowed  down  in  timothy  or  red  clover 
seed,  and  another  lot,  of  three  acres,  cut  and  cleared  in  the 
same  manner,  and  planted  with  one  hundred  thrifty  and 
growing  apple-trees,  and  the  remaining  tract,  of  seven  acres, 
cleared  and  prepared  for  cultivation,  in  the  ordinary  manner 
of  improving  arable  land :  Provided  always^  That  the  per 
son  or  persons  to  whom  any  of  the  said  lands  are  leased,  shall 
be  obliged  to  complete  the  same  improvements  on  all  lands 
leased  for  fifteen  years,  within  the  time  of  the  first  twelve 
years  of  the  same,  and  on  all  lands  leased  for  seven  years, 
within  the  time  of  the  first  five  years  of  the  said  lease. 

"SEC.  4.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor,  and  he 
is  hereby  required,  to  appoint  suitable  persons  in  the  several 
counties  or  districts  in  the  State,  with  full  power  and  author 
ity  to  lease  the  several  tracts  of  land  within  his  county  or 
district,  conformably  to  the  terms  and  provisions  of  this  act: 
Provided  always,  'That  the  Agents  or  Commissioners,  ap 
pointed  as  aforesaid,  shall  not  lease  out  any  of  the  said  lands 
in  tracts  less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  nor  larger 
than  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  except  in  cases  of  frac 
tional  sections  :  And  provided  also.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  said  Agents  or  Commissioners,  before  they  proceed  to 
lease  any  of  the  said  lands,  to  make  application  to  the  Sur 
veyor  General,  for  a  list  of  such  part  or  parts  of  the  same  as 
have  been  leased  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  in 
their  respective  districts  or  counties. 

"SEC.  5.  That  each  of  the  said  Agents  shall  be,  and  is 
hereby,  entitled  to  receive,  for  each  lease,  the  sum  of  two 
dollars;  to  be  paid  by  the  said  lessees  respectively. 

"SEC.  6.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  several  Agents, 
within  sixty  days  after  being  notified  of  their  appointments, 
to  give  notice,  in  one  or  more  newspapers,  printed,  or  in 


ADMINISTRATION    OF    EDWARD    TIFFIN.  91 

circulation  in  the  county,  or  by  advertisement  set  up  in  three 
or  more  public  places,  expressing  the  terms  for  which  the  lands 
within  his  county  or  district  are  to  be  leased ;  and  he  shall, 
moreover,  enter  in  a  book,  to  be  by  him  provided  and  kept 
for  that  purpose,  the  name  of  each  person  that  shall  apply  for 
a  lease ;  designating  at  the  same  time,  the  number,  and  part 
of  the  section  applied  for,  and  the  term  of  years  for  which 
the  applicant  proposes  to  make  the  improvements  required 
by  the  third  section  of  this  act ;  and  in  forty -two  days  after 
such  application,  if  no  other  person  shall  apply  for  the  same, 
and  propose  to  take  a  lease  on  a  shorter  term,  the  said  Agent 
shall  proceed  to  make  out  a  duplicate  lease,  to  the  said  first 
applicant,  one  part  of  which  shall  be  retained  in  the  hands 
of  the  Agent ;  but  if  any  succeeding  applicant  shall  propose 
to  take  the  same  for  a  shorter  space  of  time,  then,  and  in 
that  case,  the  lease  shall  be  made  to  the  person  proposing  to 
take  the  same  on  the  shortest  term :  Provided  always,  That 
if  two  or  more  persons  shall  apply  at  the  same  time,  and  on 
the  same  terms,  for  any  one  tract,  then  the  said  Agent  shall 
determine,  by  lot,  in  their  presence,  the  priority  of  claim : 
And  provided  also,  That  leases  shall  be  given  to  persons 
living  on  the  land,  if  such  persons  shall  apply  for  the  same, 
on  as  short  term  as  any  other  applicant,  at  any  time  within 
the  forty -two  days,  notwithstanding  such  persons  shall  not  be 
the  first  applicants. 

USEO.  7.  That  it  shall  be  the  special  duty  of  the  said 
Agent  to  inspect  and  inquire  into  any  wraste  or  trespass  that 
may  be  committed  on  any  of  the  aforesaid  lands,  by  cutting 
and  carrying  away  timber  or  stone,  or  any  other  damage  that 
may  be  done  to  the  same,  whether  by  persons  residing 
thereon,  or  others ;  and  the  said  Agent  is  hereby  authorized 
and  required,  where,  in  his  opinion,  any  waste  or  trespass 
has  been  committed,  to  proceed  against  the  person  or  persons 
committing  said  waste  or  trespass,  according  to  law :  Provi 
ded  always,  That  no  person  residing  on  any  of  the  said 
lands  shall  be  liable  to  damages  for  cutting  timber  or  remov 
ing  stone  for  any  necessary  or  useful  improvement  made  on 
the  same. 

"SEC.  8.  That  actions  for  waste  or  trespass,  shall  be  sus 
tained  by  the  Agent,  and  the  damages  recovered  shall  be, 
one-half  to  the  use  of  such  Agent,  and  the  other  half  to  be 
applied  to  the  same  purposes  as  the  net  proceeds  of  the  land 
on  which  the  damage  was  sustained ;  and  the  Agent  for  these 
lands  in  the  United  States  Military  Tract,  which  are  appro 
priated  to  the  use  of  schools  in  the  county  of  Trumbull,  shall 


92  ADMINISTRATION    OF   EDWARD   TIFFIN. 

receive  such  compensation  for  his  services  rendered,  in 
pursuance  of  the  seventh  section  of  this  act,  as  the  Court,  of 
Common  Pleas  for  said  county  of  Trumbull  shall  allow,  to  be 
paid  out  of  the  county  treasury. 

USEO.  9.  That  section  number  twenty-nine,  in  the  several 
townships  within  Judge  Symnies's  patent  shall  be  let  to  lease 
by  the  same  persons,  on  the  same  terms,  and  under  the  regu 
lations  and  restrictions  of  the  aforesaid  sections  number 
sixteen.  MICHAEL  BALDWIN, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
XATH.  MASSIE, 

April  15,  1803.  *«*»•  &  the  &natef 

Of  the  same  date  with  the  foregoing,  was  an  act  incorpo 
rating  David  Hudson,  Eliphalet  Austin,  Henry  Champion, 
John  Leavitt,  Martin  Smith,  Ephraini  Root,  Herman  Can- 
field,  John  "Walworth,  John  S.  Edwards,  William  Hart, 
Turhand  Cutland,  Solomon  Griswold,  and  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Badger,  and  their  successors,  as  Trustees  of  the  "  Erie  Literary 
Society ;"  a  representation  having  been  made  to  the  General 
Assembly,  as  stated  in  the  preamble,  "  by  certain  persons 
associated  under  the  name  of '  Erie  Literary  Society,'  that  a 
number  of  proprietors  of  land,  within  the  county  of  Trum 
bull,  (then  embracing  the  whole  "Western  Reserve),  are  de 
sirous  to  appropriate  a  part  thereof  to  the  support  of  a  sem 
inary  of  learning,  within  said  county,"  etc.  Subsequent  sec 
tions  defined  the  powers  of  the  Trustees,  in  accepting  such 
grants,  leasing  the  same,  erecting  buildings,  appointing  "  a 
president  and  instructors,"  naming  a  Treasurer,  and  receiving 
a  bond  from  him  ;  and  how  process  should  be  served  on  said 
Corporation,  namely :  "  by  summons,  leaving  an  attested 
copy  thereof,  at  least  twenty  days  before  the  return,  with  the 
Treasurer."  The  president,  professors,  trustees,  and  instruct 
ors  of  said  seminary  were  empowered  to  direct  the  mode  and 
course  of  education  to  be  pursued  therein,  to  establish  rules 
for  the  government  of  the  students,  which  should  be  in  force 
until  disapproved  of  by  the  Corporation,  and  to  confer  all  the 
degrees  and  honors  usually  granted  by  similar  institutions. 
David  IIu  U>n  was  authorized  to  summon,  the  first  meeting 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   EDWARD   TIFFIN.  93 

of  the  Corporation.  The  seventh  and  last  section  was 
adopted  from  the  territorial  act  organizing  the  University  at 
Athens,  to-wit:  "That  the  Legislature  of  this  State  may 
grant  any  further  and  greater  powers  to  alter,  limit,  or 
restrain,  any  of  the  powers  by  this  act  vested  in  the  said 
Corporation,  as  shall  be  judged  necessary  to  promote  the 
best  interest  and  prosperity  of  the  said  seminary." 

The  General  Assembly  still,  on  the  16th  of  April,  1803,  by 
joint  resolution,  appointed  Samuel  Carpenter,  James  Wells, 
and  Henry  Abrams,  Commissioners,  to  "  appraise  the  land 
included  within  the  two  college  townships,  in  the  county  of 
Washington,  (Ohio  Company's  Purchase,)  at  its  real  value 
in  its  original  and  unimproved  state  ;  to  divide  and  value 
said  land  into  four  different  qualities,  or  rates,  and  make 
return  of  the  quantity  contained  in  each'  division,  as  near 
as  may  be,  and  the  value  thereof,  to  the  next  General 
Assembly,  on  oath."  They  were  also  required  to  return  the 
present  value  of  the  land,  including  houses  and  clearings. 
By  another  resolution,  the  Trustees  under  the  territorial  act 
"  establishing  a  university  in  the  town  of  Athens,"  were 
required  to  report  what  measures  they  had  taken  to  carry 
its  provisions  into  operation. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  com 
mencing  December  5, 1803,  the  only  enactment  of  educational 
interest  was  a  revision  of  the  "  act  establishing  a  university 
in  the  town  of  Athens."  Its  name  was  changed  from  the 
"  American  Western  University"  to  the  "  Ohio  University." 
The  persons  designated  as  Trustees,  who  were  to  be  not 
more  than  fifteen,  nor  less  than  ten  in  number — were  Elijah 
Backus,  Rufus  Putnam,  Benjamin  Tappan,  Bazaleel  Wells, 
Nathaniel  Massie,  Daniel  Symmes,  Daniel  Story,  Samuel 
Carpenter,  Rev.  James  Kilbourne,  Griffin  Green,  and  the 
Governor  of  the  State,  ex  offieio ;  the  territorial  act  was 
repealed,  but  all  its  provisions,  except  those  directing  the 
disposition  of  the  lands,  were  retained  in  the  new  act ;  and 
the  Governor  was  instructed  to  summon  the  re-organized 


94  ADMINISTRATION    OF   EDWARD   TIFFIN. 

Corporation  to  their  first  meeting.  The  two  sections  relating 
to  the  disposition  of  the  land  endowment,  were  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  Section  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  one  or 
more  of  the  aforesaid  Trustees  (to  be  appointed  by  the  Board 
for  that  purpose)  shall,  within  six  months  from  the  passage 
of  this  act,  proceed  (by  the  oath  of  three  disinterested  and 
judicious  freeholders)  to  lay  off  the  lands  in  said  townships, 
(those  included  in  the  town  of  Athens  excepted,)  or  such  part 
thereof  as  they  may  deem  expedient,  into  tracts  of  not  less 
than  eighty  nor  more  than  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  and 
to  estimate  and  value  the  same  as  in  their  original  and  un 
improved  state,  (for  which  service  such  compensation  shall  be 
allowed  as  the  Trustees  shall  think  reasonable,  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  funds  of  the  university,)  and  having  thus  laid  off  and 
estimated  said  lauds,  the  Trustees  after  giving  four  weeks 
notice  in  the  newspaper  printed  at  Marietta,  shall  proceed  to 
make  out  leases  of  the  said  tracts  to  such  of  the  present  occu 
pants  as  shall  apply  for  the  same,  within  three  months  after 
such  notice  given,  and  to  all  persons  that  shall  apply  here 
after,  for  the  term  of  ninety  years,  renewable  forever,  on  a 
yearly  rent  of  six  per  centum  on  the  amount  of  the  valuation  so 
made  by  the  said  freeholders  ;  and  the  land  so  leased  shall  be 
subject  to  a  re-valuation,  at  the  expiration  of  thirty-five 
years,  and  to  another  at  the  expiration  of  sixty  years, 
from  the  commencement  of  the  term  of  each  lease ;  which 
re-valuation  shall  be  conducted  and  made  on  the  principles 
of  the  first,  and  the  lessee  shall  pay  a  yearly  rent  of  six  per 
centum,  on  the  amount  of  the  re-valuation  so  to  be  made,  and 
forever  thereafter,  or  a  yearly  rent  equal  to,  and  not  exceed 
ing,  six  per  centum  of  the  amount  of  a  valuation  to  be  made, 
as  aforesaid,  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  ninety  years 
aforesaid,  (which  valuation  the  Trustees  and  their  successors 
are  herebv  authorized  and  directed  to  make :)  Provided^ 
however,  That  such  last-mentioned  rent  shall  be  subject  to 
the  following  regulations,  to-wit:  at  the  expiration  of  the 
aforesaid  period  of  ninety  years,  three  referees  shall  be  ap 
pointed,  the  first  by  the  Corporation  of  the  university ;  the 
second  by  the  lessees,  under  the  provisions  of  this  section 
of  this  act,  and  the  third  by  the  two  referees  thus  chosen,  or 
(in  case  either  or  both  of  the  parties  shall  neglect  to  choose  an 
umpire,)  the  General  Assembly,  at  its  next  session,  shall  ap 
point  such  number  of  referees,  not  exceeding  three,  as  the  case 
may  require  ;  which  referees  shall  meet  within  a  reasonable 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   EDWAKD   TIFFIN.  95 

time,  to  bo  agreed  on  between  them,  at  the  town  of  Athens,  and 
then  and  there  determine  on  and  declare  the  medium  price, 
per  bushel,  of  the  article  of  wheat ;  which  determination 
shall  be  grounded  on  a  calculation  of  the  average  price  oi 
said  article,  at  the  town  of  Marietta,  for  the  five  preceding 
years ;  which  declaration  shall  be  made  in  writing,  and 
entered  of  record  on  the  books  of  the  Corporation  ;  and  at  the 
commencement  of  each  and  every  succeeding  period  of  twenty 
years  thereafter,  the  amount  of  rent  of  such  period  shall  be 
fixed  on  and  determined  by  referees,  to  be  chosen  upon  the 
principles  herein-before  directed,  from  a  comparison  of  the 
aforesaid  recorded  price  of  wheat,  with  its  average  price  at 
Marietta,  for  the  five  years  which  shall  have  been  then  last 
past ;  in  which  leases  shall  be  reserved  a  right  of  distress, 
and  of  re-entry,  for  non-payment  of  rent,  at  any  time  after  it 
shall  have  been  due  two  months :  Provided  always,  That 
the  said  Corporation  shall  have  power  to  demand  a  further 
yearly  rent  on  the  said  lands  and  tenements,  not  exceeding 
the  amount  of  the  tax  imposed  on  property  of  like  descrip 
tion  by  the  State,  which  rents  shall  be  paid  at  such  time  and 
place  to  such  person,  and  collected  in  such  manner,  as  the 
Corporation  shall  direct. 

"SEC.  13.  That  the  Trustees  shall  lay  off  the  aforesaid 
town  of  Athens,  conformably  to  a  plan  made  out  by  liufus 
Putnam  and  others,  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  the  ter 
ritorial  Legislature,  of  the  eighteenth  of  December,  one  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine,  with  such  variations, 
however,  as  they  may  find  it  expedient  to  make ;  and  the 
same  being  thus  laid  off,  and  a  plat  of  the  same,  with  a  'des 
ignation  of  the  uses  of  the  several  parts,  recorded  in  the  office 
of  the  Eecorder  of  the  proper  county,  and  six  weeks  pre 
vious  notice  given  in  at  least  two  of  the  newspapers  of  this 
State,  may  proceed  to  sell,  from  time  to  time,  at  public  auc 
tion,  such  of  the  house  and  out  lots  as  they  may  think 
proper,  for  which  lots,  on  payment  being  made,  or  satisfac 
tory  security  given,  according  to  the  conditions  of  such  sale, 
they  shall  execute  to  the  purchasers,  respectively,  leases  for 
the  term  of  ninety  years,  renewable  forever  on  an  annual  rent, 
equal  to  and  not  exceeding,  six  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  the 
purchase  money,  which  lots,  with  the  improvements  which 
may  be  made  on  the  same,  shall  be  subject  to  such  further 
yearly  rent  as  may  be  equal  to  the  tax  imposed,  from  time  to 
time,  on  property  of  like  value  and  description,  by  the  State ; 
and  they  are  likewise  authorized  to  deliver  a  reasonable  com 
pensation  for  the  improvements  which  have  been  made  on 


96  ADMINISTRATION    OF    EDWAED   TIFFIN. 

lands  within  the  town  of  Athens,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  funds 
of  the  university." 

The  subject  of  schools  was  a  prominent  topic  of  Governor 
Tiffin's  message,  at  the  opening  of  the  third  session  of  the 
General  Assembty,  December  4,  1804.  His  suggestions  an 
ticipated  so  distinctly  the  future  policy  of  the  State,  that  this 
part  of  his  message  is  given  in  his  own  words : 

"  The  acknowledged  maxim,  '  that  knowledge  is,  in  every 
country,  the  surest  basis  of  public  happiness,'  is  strikingly 
exemplified  by  contrasting  the  situation  of  the  people  of 
these  United  States  with  those  of  other  governments,  where 
its  diffusion  is  neglected,  or  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the  lower 
classes  of  the  people ;  for,  however  just  the  observation  may 
be,  that  governments  are  instituted  for  the  benefit  of  the  gov 
erned,  yet,  if  they  have  not  the  means  of  acquiring  a  knowl 
edge  of  their  rights,  they  will  never  feel  their  value,  and, 
consequently,  not  be  careful  to  guard  against  their  invasion. 
They  can  not  discern  between  oppression  and  the  exercise  of 
lawful  authority — between  burdens  imposed  from  a  regard 
to  the  public  wants,  and  those  which  might  be  imposecl  in 
sidiously,  and  under  color  thereof,  to  accomplish  the  means 
of  wresting  from  them  every  vestige  of  liberty.  The  great 
resources  of  lands,  which  this  State  possesses  for  the  support 
of  schools  and  other  seminaries  of  learning,  afford  the  Leg 
islature  a  sublime  employment,  inasmuch 'as  the  benefits, 
which  may  result  therefrom,  will  have  their  effects  in  the 
continued  support  of  the  best  government  in  the  world,  truly 
styled,  kits  best  hope  ; '  and  which,  while  correctly  adminis 
tered,  is  eminently  calculated  to  promote  public  and  individ 
ual  happiness,  as  well  as  extending  the  civil  and  religious 
blessings  we  enjoy,  to  future  generations. 

"These  observations  will  naturally  lead  you  to  inquire 
whether  any,  and  if  any,  what  improvements  are  necessary 
to  the  act  entitled,  '  an  act  establishing  a  university  in  the 
town  of  Athens.'  tinder  this  act,  a  quorum  of  the  'Trustees 
met  in  June  last,  and  so  far  as  their  powers  extended,  carried 
it  into  effect ;  a  committee  of  two  members  of  the  Board  was 
appointed'to  superintend  the  surveying  of  such  part  of  the 
two  townships  of  land,  which  were  appropriated  for  the  uni 
versity,  as  might  be  applied  for  by  those  willing  to  become 
lessees;  also,  to  superintend  the  sales  of  a  small  part  of  the 
town  and  out  lots,  which  were  designated  by  the  Board  to  be 
sold  as  an  experiment;  and  in  exhibit  No.  1,  I  lay  before 


ADMINISTRATION    OF    EDWARD    TIFFIN.  97 

you  a  communication  from  Gen.  Putnam,*  one  of  the  commit 
tee,  which  shows  that  the  prospects  are  flattering ;  but  it 
is  necessary  to  observe,  from  actual  observation,  when 
there,  and  from  information  derived  from  intelligent  charac 
ters  since,  that  the  settlers  on  these  lands  were  induced  to 
apply  for  leases,  under  an  impression  that  the  Legislature 
would  review  the  law,  and  be  governed  by  a  more  liberal 
policy.  Should  it  be  thought  that  these  lands  ought  to  be 
valued  at  a  generous  price,  once  for  all,  and  leases  be  author 
ized  to  issue  upon  the  payment  of  the  legal  interest  yearly, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  they  would  soon  be  all  occu 
pied,  and  from  the  sales  of  the  town  and  out  lots,  a  sufficient 
Bum  would  be  raised  to  erect  such  public  buildings  as  may  be 
immediately  wanted ;  and  that  the  rents  of  the  lands  and 
lots  would  be  sufficient  to  support  the  university,  answer  every 
purpose  for  which  the  donation  was  originally  made,  and  the 
State  be  immediately  benefited  by  the  institution. 

"It  is  further  thought,  that  it  would  greatly  enhance  the 
demand  for  those  lands  and  town  lots,  as  well  as  prepare  the 
way  for  the  accommodations  and  comforts  of  the  youths  who 
may  be  sent  to  the  university,  if  a  new  county  was  erected, 
and  its  seat  established  at  Athens,  which  may  conveniently 
be  done,  without  injury  to  those  adjacent,  and  which  the  con 
venience  of  that  part  of  the  country  imperiously  requires. 

"  But  few  of  the  school  sections  are  yet  leased  under  the 
'  act  to  provide  for  the  leasing  of  certain  lands  therein  named,' 
and  it  is  presumed  for  want  of  observing  a  more  liberal  pol 
icy  ;  for  where  the  means  of  acquiring  a  fee  simple  to  lands 
are  so  easy,  and  almost  within  the  reach  of  all,  but  few  will 
be  induced  to  improve  lands  not  their  own,  without  sufficient 
compensation  ;  and  these  lands,  which  ought  to  be  brought 
into  a  state  of  productiveness  as  soon  as  possible,  will  be 
suffered  to  lie  either  in  a  state  of  nature,  or  be  pillaged  of 
their  timber,  to  the  great  injury  of  the  public." 

On  the  20th  of  February  an  act  passed,  to  take  effect  June 
1,  1805,  which  repealed  the  provisions  for  leasing  section 
sixteen  contained  in  the  act  of  April  16,  1803.  The  Trustees 

*  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam  and  Col.  Samuel  Carpenter,  were  the  committee 
referred  to.  The  former  wrote  to  Gov.  Tiffin,  Nov.  6,  1804,  that  the  sales 
of  the  house  and  out  lots  of  the  town  of  Athens,  amounted  to  $2,223.50 ; 
average  of  house  lots,  $43.33}^  ;  of  out  lots  $39.  In  the  south  town 
ship,  seventy-five  tracts,  or  11,000  acres,  were  applied  for.  In  the  north 
township,  under  the  superintendence  of  Col.  Carpenter,  Gen.  Putnam  was 
not  informed  fully  ;  but  in  August  previous,  seventy-five  applications 
for  leases,  covering  8,670  acres,  had  been  made. 

7 


98  ADMINISTRATION    OF   EDWARD   TIFFIN. 

of  the  townships,  severally,  were  required  to  apply  the  net 
proceeds  "  to  the  education  of  youths  within  the  particular 
surveyed  township  or  fractional  township  w'herein  the  sec 
tion  was  situated,  in  such  manner  that  all  the  citizens  resi 
dent  therein  might  be  equal  partakers  of  the  benefit  thereof." 
They  were  directed  to  lease  lots  of  not  less  than  eighty,  or 
more  than  two  hundred  acres  to  those  making  the  most  ad 
vantageous  proposals  after  a  prescribed  notice  of  thirty  days ; 
but  no  lease  was  to  be  granted  for  a  longer  time  than  fifteen 
years.  They  were  not  to  lease  more  than  one  lot  to  any  one 
person,  and  the  lessee  was  bound  not  to  waste  or  destroy  the 
timber  or  sugar-camps  thereon,  and  to  make  such  improve 
ments  as  might  be  prescribed.  As  yet  no  power  of  sale  was 
given,  but  only  to  lease. 

At  this  session,  February  22d,  'William  Creighton,  jr.,  Jo 
seph  Buell,  Benjamin  Tupper,  Jacob  Linley,  and  Michael 
Baldwin,  were  appointed  Trustees  of  Ohio  University ;  and, 
in  accordance  with  Governor  Tiffin's  recommendation,  by  an 
act  passed  February  21,  1805,  James  Denny,  Emanuel  Car 
penter,  jr.,  Isaac  Dawson,  Relotiah  "White,  and  Ezekiel  Den 
ning,  were  appointed  to  appraise  the  two  university  town 
ships,  "  at  the  present  real  value  as  in  its  original  and  uncul 
tivated  state,  and  make  report  thereof  to  the  Board  of  Trus 
tees  of  the  said  University  ; "  and  the  said  Trustees  were  di 
rected  to  lease  the  same  to  any  persons  who  had  or  might 
apply,  agreeable  to  law,  for  the  term  of  ninety-nine  years, 
renewable  forever,  with  a  fixed  annual  rent  of  six  per  centum 
on  the  appraised  valuation,  but  in  no  case  below  one  dollar 
and  seventy-five  cents  per  acre.  Whatever  legislation  of  the 
previous  session  was  contrary  to  this,  was  repealed. 

In  the  year  1805,  February  21st,  occurred  the  first  library 
incorporation.  Rev.  William  Robertson,  John  Elliott,  and 
William  Miller,  were  recognized  as  the  first  Directors,  Ben 
jamin  Van  Cleve,  Librarian,  and  John  Fulkirth,  Treasurer,  of 
the  "  Dayton  Library  Society." 

At  the  fourth  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  an  act  was 
pawed,  January  2,  1806,  "  to  incorporate  the  original 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   EDWARD    TIFFIN.  99 

surveyed  townships."  The  county  Commissioners  were 
required,  as  soon  as  there  were  twenty  electors  in  any  original 
surveyed  township,  or  fraction,  on  their  application,  to  ap 
point  an  election  of  three  Trustees  and  a  Treasurer,  who, 
when  chosen,  were  incorporated,  and  succeeded  to  all  the 
powers  and  duties  in  respect  to  school  lands,  which  had 
previously  been  imposed  upon  the  Trustees  of  civil  town 
ships.  These  officers  were  elected  for  two  years;  the 
Treasurer  was  prohibited  from  paying  any  of  the  rents  and 
profits  arising  from  section  sixteen,  "but  upon  the  order 
of  the  Trustees ;"  and  was  directed  to  "  keep  a  book,  with 
fair  and  accurate  entries  of  all  moneys  received,  together  with 
a  list  of  the  disbursements,  and  carefully  file  the  vouchers  in 
relation  thereto  ;"  but  if  the  rents  and  profits  were  in  produce, 
the  Trustees  were  to  direct  how  they  should  be  disposed  of; 
and,  in  the  following  section  is  found  the  first  legislative  refer 
ence  to  the  sub-district,  now  so  prominent  a  feature  of  the 
school  organization  of  the  State. 

"  The  Trustees  are  hereby  authorized,  so  soon  as  they  may 
think  necessary,  to  lay  off  said  townships  into  proper 
divisions,  and  the  same  to  alter,  from  time  to  time,  as  they 
shall  think  proper,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  schools 
therein  ;  which  divisions  shall  be  laid  off  in  such  manner  as 
shall  best  suit  the  interest  and  convenience  of  the  inhabitants ; 
and  each  division  thus  laid  off  shall  receive  a  fair  and  equita 
ble  dividend  of  the  profits  arising  from  their  reserved  section, 
according  to  the  number  of  inhabitants  contained  therein." 

The  following  section  was  new  and  important : 

"  Every  surveyed  township  and  fractional  township  afore 
said,  in  this  State,  that  has  a  county  line  running  through 
the  same,  shall  be  considered,  as  it  respects  number  sixteen, 
in  the  same  situation  as  though  no  such  interference  had 
taken  place ;  and  any  suits  or  actions,  that  may  take  place 
between  the  Trustees  of  such  townships  in  their  corporate 
capacity,  and  individual  or  individuals,  or  body  corporate, 
shall  be  tried  and  determined  in  the  county  where  the 
reserved  section  lies ;  and  the  officer  appointed  to  serve 
process  in  such  cases,  shall  have  full  power  to  go  any  where 
throughout  the  township,  in  execution  of  his  official  duty,  in 


100  ADMINISTRATION    OF    EDWARD   TIFFIN. 

the   same  manner  as   though   no   such   division    line    had 
ever  existed." 

Tliis  corporate  organization  exists  to  this  day ;  but  at  the 
djiu-  of  the  above  enactment,  the  Trustees  had  no  greater 
power  of  disposition  than  their  predecessors,  namely,  to  lease 
tracts  of  from  eighty  to  two  hundred  acres  for  fifteen  years. 

At  the  fifth  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  January  26, 
1807,  Timothy  Rose,  Timothy  Spelmau,  Elias  Gilman, 
Samuel  Thrall,  Jacob  Case,  Samuel  Rose,  Samuel  Bancroft, 
John  Duke,  Hiram  Rose,  and  Jeremiah  R.  Munson,  and 
their  successors,  were  incorporated  as  the  u  Granville  Alexan 
drian  Society,"  (denominated,  in  the  title  of  the  bill,  a 
"Library  Society,")  with  power  to  hold  any  estate,  real 
or  personal ;  and  the  same  to  sell,  grant,  or  dispose  of,  or 
bind  by  mortgage,  or  in  such  other  manner  as  they  shall  deem 
most  proper  for  the  best  interest  of  the  Corporation."  The 
manner  in  which  this  act  was  subsequently  perverted,  belongs 
to  the  financial  history  of  the  State. 

At  this  session,  the  u  Cincinnati  University"  was  incorpo 
rated,  (January  23,  1807,)  with  the  following  list  of  Corpora 
tors  :  John  S.  Gano,  Joseph  Yan  Horn,  Matthew  Nimmo, 
William  Stratton,  Jacob  Burnet,  James  Ewing,  Thomas 
Ramsay,  Ethan  Stone,  Elinore  Williams,  David  E.  Wade, 
John  Riddle,  Stephen  Wood,  William  McFarland,  Joseph 
Delaplaine,  Elias  Glover,  Isaac  Anderson,  Charles  Kilgore, 
James  Ferguson,  Joel  Craig,  Henry  Disbrow,  Jacob  Wil 
liams,  William  Betts,  David  Christy,  Martin  Baum,  E-lward 
H.  Stall,  'William  Ramsay,  David  L.  Carny,  Thomas  Dugan, 
John  O.  Ferrill,  Kehemiah  Hunt,  Ezekiel  Hall,  Thomas 
Stanberry,  Joseph  Prince,  Daniel  Symmes,  Hugh  Moore, 
Hugh  McClelland,  Robert  Caldwell,  John  Bradburn,  Alexan 
der  King,  John  W.  Browne,  Simon  Stockdill,  Samuel  Patter 
son,  John  Smith,  Isaac  Dexter,  Philip  Rice,  William 
Wallace,  Joel  Williams,  and  their  associates.* 

*  The  motive  for  preserving  these  lists  of  names,  is  the  fact  that  they 
generally  furnish  a  memorial  of  citizens  prominent  as  literary  men  in  their 
respective  localities. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   EDWAKD    TIFFIK. 


1C* 


By  act  of  January  23,  1807,  the  Trustees  of  the  Ohio 
University  were  authorized  to  lease  lands  at  their  appraised 
value,  although  that  might  be  below  $1.75  per  acre. 

Governor  TIFFIN  having  been  elected '  United  States  Sena 
tor,  resigned  the  office  of  Governor ;  and  Thomas  Kirker, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate,  was  acting  Governor,  from  March  4, 
1807,  to  December  12,  1808. 

At  the  fifth  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  town 
Council  of  Marietta,  were  authorized  to  lay  out  section  six 
teen  "  into  such  lots  or  parcels,  as  in  their  opinion  [should] 
be  most  convenient,  and  tend  best  to  accomplish  the  object  of 
the  donation  ;"  they  were  to  be  appraised,  taking  into  view  the 
improvements  thereon,  (buildings  excepted,)  and  the  town 
Council  might  then  lease  the  same,  "  for  the  term  of  ninety- 
nine  years,  renewable  forever,  subject  to  an  annual  rent  of 
six  per  cent,  on  the  valuation,  and  subject  also  to  a  re-valua 
tion  at  the  expiration  of  every  ten  years,  chargeable  with  the 
same  per  centage  on  each  succeeding  valuation.  Effective 
remedies  for  the  recovery  of  rent,  etc.,  were  also  provided. 

At  this  session,  acts  were  passed:  1.  Recognizing  the 
lessees  of  the  Ohio  University  lands  as  freeholders ;  giving 
the  Treasurer  the  right  to  distrain  for  rent,  and  appointing 
Eliphas  Perkins,  Sylvanus  Adams,  Jehiel  Gregory,  Abel 
Miller,  Leonard  Jewett,  and  Moses  Hewitt,  additional  Trus 
tees  of  said  University ;  2.  Incorporating  James  Kilbourne, 
Isaac  Case,  Moses  Maynard,  Ezra  Griswold,  Alexander 
Morrison,  Thomas  Palmer,  and  Noah  Andrews,  and  their 
associates,  as  the  "  "Worthington  Academy;"  3.  Incorporating 
James  Welsh,  Daniel  E.  Cooper,  William  McClure,  David 
Read,  Benjamin  Yan  Cleve,  George  F.  Tennery,  John  Fil- 
kirth,  and  James  Hannah,  and  their  associates,  as  the 
"  Dayton  Academy ;"  4.  Incorporating  Robert  Wilson, 
Thomas  Worthington,  Edward  Tiffin,  William  Sprigg,  Wil 
liam  Creighton,  Henry  Massil,  Duncan  McArthur,  William 
McFarland,  and  Samuel  Finley,  as  the  "  Chillicothe  Acad 
emy:"  and,  5.  Incorporating  Michael  Debolt,  Jacob  Frazey, 
William  Webb,  Clayton  Webb,  James  Grimes,  John  Webb, 


AC2  AD%nKl8TRATION   OF    SAMUEL    HUNTINGTOK. 

Arthur  Morrison,  John  Irviu,  Griffith-  Thompson,  John 
Tobias,  John  Barnes,  William  Highland,  Samuel  Earhart, 
Resin  Newell,  John  Newell,  Levin  Ilardisty,  John  Day, 
George  Campbell,  Josiah  Frazey,  John  Campbell,  Philip 
Crockfield,  Alexander  Morrison,  James  Clark,  John  Carbrey, 
Josiah  Hally,  Samuel  Hally,  Joshua  II.  Brown,  Leonard 
Armstrong,  Timothy  Day,  Nathaniel  Armstrong,  Samuel 
Dunseth,  Nathan  Sutton,  Robert  Hurley,  Ichabod  R.  Miller, 
Philip  Turpin,  Luther  Ross,  John  Ross,  and  Daniel  Day, 
and  their  successors,  as  the  "  Newtown  Library  Company,  in 
the  county  of  Hamilton." 


CHAPTER  VII. 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  SAMUEL   HUNTINGT ON— 1808-10. 

AT  the  seventh  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  by  an 
act  passed  February  15,  1809,  Robert  G.  Wilson,  Jessup  N. 
Couch,  John  P.  R.  Bureau,  Elijah  Hatch,  jr.,  and  Henry 
Abrams,  were  appointed  Trustees  of  Ohio  University;  the 
Board  of  Trustees  were  authorized  to  receive  produce  in  pay 
ment  of  rent,  until  1811 ;  nine  of  them  were  recognized  as  a 
quorum ;  and  the  tracts  of  lessees  were  authorized  to  be  di 
vided  and  sub-let,  upon  certain  conditions;  the  sub-lessees 
receiving  from  the  Treasurer  of  the  institution  separate 
leases,  in  their  own  names.  By  another  act,  February  9, 
1809,  the  inhabitants  of  every  fractional  township,  within  the 
Ohio  Company's  Purchase — although  the  number  of  electors 
might  fall  below  twenty — were  authorized  to  lease  section  six 
teen,  pursuant  to  law;  and  by  an  act  of  January  24th,  a  spe 
cial  organization  of  fractional  township,  number  four,  in  the 
second  fractional  range  of  townships,  was  authorized  to  ap 
praise  section  sixteen,  at  not  less  than  two  dollars  per  acre, 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   SAMUEL   HDNTINQTON.  103 

subject  to  re- valuation  every  fifteen  years,  and  to  lease  the 
same  for  ninety-nine  years,  renewable  forever,  in  such  lots  as 
the  Trustees  might  direct,  at  rents  not  less  than  six  per  cent, 
on  such  valuation. 

At  this  session,  the  first  measures  were  taken  for  the  crea 
tion  of  a  fund  from  the  proceeds  of  the  lands  granted  for  the 
use  of  schools  in  the  Virginia  Military  District.  The  first 
section  of  the  act  of  February  16, 1809,  directed  the  legislative 
appointment  of  a  Surveyor,  Register,  and  Treasurer,  for 
terms  of  three  years,  under  bond,  respectively,  of  $10,000; 
the  Surveyor  to  run  off  the  lands  into  quarter  sections, 
receiving  the  compensation  allowed  by  the  United  States  for 
similar  services;  the  Register,  as  soon  as  the  plat  of  said 
surveys 'was  deposited  with  him,  to  give  public  notice  of  sale, 
for  at  least  six  weeks,  in  newspapers  at  Pittsburg  and 
Brownsville,  Pennsylvania,  and  Wheeling,  Virginia,  to  at 
tend  said  sales,  offering  first  the  north-east  quarter  section, 
thence  west,  on  the  same  parallel,  and  so  on,  with  successive 
tiers  of  quarter  sections ;  provided  that  no  part  thereof  was 
sold  for  less  than  two  dollars  per  acre,  besides  its  proportion 
of  the  cost  of  surveying,  advertising,  and  offering  for  sale ;  to 
require  as  conditions  of  sale,  a  first  payment* of  the  sum 
chargeable  on  each  quarter  section,  for  the  expenses  of  survey 
and  sale,  and  yearly  payments  thereafter,  forever,  at  the  rate 
of  six  per  cent,  per  year,  subject  to  such  commutation  aa 
future  Legislatures  might  prescribe ;  to  execute  deeds  of  lease 
for  ninety-nine  years,  renewable  forever,  to  the  purchasers, 
recording  the  same  in  a  book  provided  for  that  purpose ;  to 
audit  and  settle  Surveyor's  and  other  accounts ;  to  renew 
sales,  as  aforesaid,  from  year  to  year ;  and  to  hold  his  office 
at  Mansfield,  Richland  county,  (in  the  vicinity  of  the  lands 
granted  by  Congress,  in  180T,  for  the  use  of  schools  in  the 
Virginia  District,)  with  a  salary  of  $150,  payable  out  of  the 
avails  of  lands  sold,  and  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  of  sales ;  while  it  was  made  the  duty  of  the  Treas 
urer  to  attend  said  sales,  receive  and  keep  the  payments  of 
money,  collect  rents  due,  and  re-enter  and  sell  the  same  for 


104  ADMINISTRATION    OP   SAMUEL    HUNTINGTON. 

non-payment,  keeping  his  office  likewise  at  Mansfield,  and 
receiving  the  same  compensation  as  the  Register. 

This  legislation  was  important,  as  a  title  was  conveyed,  as 
fully  advantageous  to  the  permanent  lessee  as  a  fee-simple, 
unincumbered  by  a  condition  of  re- valuation,  and  with  a 
prospect  of  commutation  by  the  Legislature.  Indeed,  at  the 
ensuing  session,  the  act  of  February  16,  1810,  fixed  the  first 
or  contingent  payment  at  ten  dollars  for  each  quarter  section, 
and  instead  of  yearly  payments,  immediately  thereafter,  of  six 
per  cent.,  such  payments  were  postponed  for  five  years ;  but 
in  consideration  of  this  indulgence,  purchasers  were  required, 
within  three  years,  to  "build  a  good,  comfortable  cabin,  and 
clear  at  least  three  acres  of  ground  on  each  quarter  section," 
with  the  usual  penalties  for  non-compliance  with  said  amend 
atory  act,  of  re-entry  and  forced  sale. 

In  his  second  annual  message,  December,  1809,  Governor 
Huntington  held  the  following  language : 

"Suffer  me,  in  this  place,  to  call  your  attention  to  the  state 
of  our  seminaries  and  schools  of  education,  and  to  recommend 
them  to  the  patronage  and  encouragement  of  the  State ;  it  is 
in  a  public  as  well  as  in  a  private  point  of  view  that  the  State 
is  interested  in  the  diffusion  of  learning  and  useful  knowl 
edge  ;  where  the  means  of  education  are  extended,  and  tho 
great  body  of  the  people  are  enlightened,  the  arts  of  design 
ing  and  ambitious  characters  can  never  succeed  in  under 
mining  the  liberties  of  the  country." 

At  the  eighth  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  1809-10, 
besides  the  act  amendatory  to  the  act  for  the  disposition  of 
Virginia  Military  School  lands,  already  cited,  a  series  of  local 
acts  were  passed :  1.  Appointing  Eleazer  Ilickcox  and  Peter 
Hitchcock,  Trustees  of  the  "Erie  Literary  Society."  2.  In 
corporating  Clement  Vallandigham,  John  Stough,  Resin 
Beall,  John  Thompson,  Thomas  Rowland,  Alexander  Snod- 
grass,  Rudolph  Blair,  Joseph  Stibbs,  David  Hostetter,  and 
John  Ilindman,  of  Columbiana  county,  John  Sloan  of  Stark 
county,  and  Thomas  G.  Jones,  of  Trumbull  county,  as  the 
"New  Lisbon  Academy."  3.  Incorporating  the  sharehold 
ers  of  the  "  Poland  Library  Society,"  and  appointing  Thirkand 


ADMINISTRATION    OF    SAMUEL   IIUNTINGTON.  105 

Kirtland,  James  Duncan  and  John  Strothers  its  first  di 
rectors.  4.  Incorporating  Edmund  Hunger,  Daniel  Brad- 
street,  Noah  Tibbals,  John  Harris,  Israel  Harris,  Benjamin 
Haltbie,  Amoni  Maltbie,  Ethal  Kellogg,  Jeremiah  Hole, 
Elihu  Kellogg,  Freeman  Hunger,  Edmund  K.  Hunger,  Keu- 
ben  Hunger,  Ezra  Kellogg,  Jonathan  Hunger,  and  Henry 
Hunger,  and  their  successors,  as  the  "Washington  Social 
Library  Company,"  in  Hontgomery  county. 

Governor  Huntington,  in  his  last  annual  message  to  the 
General  Assembly,  December  3,  1810,  thus  alluded  to  the 
subject  of  education : 

"The  utility  of  institutions  for  the  promotion  of  education 
is  too  obvious  to  need  illustration.  In  a  free  government, 
where  the  rights  of  the  people  are  in  their  own  keeping,  it  is 
peculiarly  necessary  they  should  have  a  correct  knowledge  of 
their  rights,  to  guard,  on  the  one  hand,  against  the  encroach 
ment  of  power,  and  on  the  other  hand,  against  the  evils  of 
anarchy ;  and  no  means  are  so  well  adapted  to  this  purpose, 
as  a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  information,  the 
foundation  of  which  must  be  laid  in  schools,  and  seminaries 
of  learning. 

"  I  am  well  aware  that  the  state  of  our  funds  will  not  per 
mit  much  assistance  to  be  given  them,  in  the  way  that  would 
be  most  effectual ;  but  if  any  legislative  aid  can  be  devised, 
within  the  resources  of  the  State,  it  would  undoubtedly  be  a 
measure  of  sound  policy  to  extend  it  to  so  useful  an  object. 
Nor  will  it  be  an  unimportant  inquiry,  whether  the  most 
effectual  measures  have  been  taken,  to  render  the  lands  ap 
propriated  by  Congress,  for  the  use  of  schools,  in  this  State, 
subservient  to  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  granted." 


106  ADMINISTRATION    OF    RETURN    J.    MEIG3. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  RETURN  J.  MEIGS—1810-14. 

In  the  inaugural  address,  December  8,  1810,  of  Governor 
Meigs,  he  thus  expressed  himself : 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  State  has  wisely  declared,  that 
4  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge,  being  essentially  neces 
sary  to  a  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  instruction  shall  forever  be  encour 
aged  by  legislative  provision.' 

"  Correct  education  is  the  auxiliary  of  virtue — moral  science 
will  exalt  the  mind,  while  ignorance,  the  badge  of  mental 
slavery,  debases  it. 

"  Where  the  structure  of  government  rests  on  public 
opinion,  knowledge  is  of  vital  interest ;  public  opinion,  to  be 
correct,  must  be  enlightened,  and  the  culture  of  the  under 
standing  is  the  preserver  ol%  republican  principles.  Man 
informed  of  his  political  rights  becomes  reluctant  to  renounce 
them.  Tyrants  govern  the  ignorant.  Intelligence  alone  is 
capable  of  self-government. 

'•'  Respect  for  religion,  purity  of  morals,  and  love  of 
country,  comprise  the  substance  of  civic  obligations. 

"  As  with  individuals,  so  is  it  with  nations,  that  vice  is 
the  precursor  of  ruin  ;  and  taken  in  its  extensive  sense,  it  is 
permanently  true,  c  that  righteousness  exalteth  a  nation.' 

"  Public  excellence  ascends  from  domestic  purity ;  and 
just  principles,  extending  from  families  to  communities,  en 
large  the  sphere  of  utility,  and  give  to  patriotism  its  proud 
est  devotion. 

"  A  fervent  attachment  to  our  country  and  its  free  institu 
tions,  is  a  principal  of  predominant  obligation.  Foreign 
influence  is  the  harbinger  of  destruction  to  States  which  are 
free.  It  was  the  gold-dividing  influence  of  Macedon  which 
demolished  the  fairest  temples  of  Grecian  freedom ;  and 
Rome  saw,  in  the  corruption  of  her  citizens,  her  liberties  en 
tombed  forever.  With  us,  were  every  good  citizen  to  cast 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   RETURN   J.    MEIGS.  107 

his  mite  into  the  stock  of  public  virtue,  the  fund  would  be 
inexhaustible. 

"  Happily  for  us,  our  State  is  endowed  with  liberal  grants 
and  reservations  of  land  for  the  use  of  schools,  and  universi 
ties,  and  we  should  be  unfaithful  to  ourselves,  and  unjust  to 
posterity,  were  we  to  fail  to  regulate  them  in  a  manner  most 
beneficial  to  these  important  objects.  Our  schools  and  acad 
emies  are  advancing  in  improvement,  and  promise  to 
sanction  the  hopes  entertained  of  their  utility." 

The  legislation  of  the  ninth  session  of  the  General  As 
sembly,  1810-11,  upon  educational  subjects,  was  mostly 
local.  It  consisted,  1.  Of  the  incorporation  of  Elias  Gilnian, 
Timothy  Eose,  Silas  Winchel,  Daniel  Baker,  and  Grove 
Case,  as  Trustees  of  the  "  Granville  Religious  and  Literary 
Society,"  with  power  to  dispose  of  two  lots  in  the  town  of 
Granville,  Licking  county,  donated  by  the  New  England 
Licking  Land  Company,  for  the  support  of  a  school  in  the 
town  of  Granville;  2.  Of  the  incorporation  of  Lyman  Potter, 
James  Snodgrass,  John  Rea,  Bazaleel  Wells,  John  McDowell, 
Benjamin  Tappan,  David  Hoge,  Obadiah  Jennings,  Thomas 
McKean  Thompson,  James  Larrimore,  John  C.  Bayless, 
Thomas  Henderson,  Thomas  Scott,  Samuel  Hunter,  and 
Jesse  Edginton,  of  Jefferson  county,  as  President  and 
Trustees  of  "  Steubenville  Academy ;"  3.  Of  two  acts  transfer 
ring  from  the  town  Council  of  Marietta,  and  the  Trustees  and 

o 

Treasurer  elected  in  fractional  township,  number  four,  second 
fractional  range  of  the  townships  in  the  Miami  Purchase, 
under  an  act  of  January  24,  1809,  the  powers  possessed 
by  those  bodies  respectively  to  the  Trustees  and  Treasurer, 
elected  under  the  act  of  February  6,  1810,  incorporating 
original  surveyed  townships  ;  and,  4.  Incorporating  the 
following  persons  as  the  "  Gallia  Academy "  in  Gallipolis, 
to-wit:  Claud  R.  Menager,  Henry  Due,  Joseph  W.  Y. 
Yacht,  Edward  W.  Tupper,  Thomas  Rodgers,  John  Miller, 
Luther  Shepard,  Calvin  Shepard,  Elnathan  Barlow,  Gustavus 
Keys,  Francis  Leclerc,  William  Harvey,  Phineas  Mathews, 
Adam  Long,  Lewis  Y.  Yonschrittz,  Lewis  Newsom,  Stephen 
Monnat,  Peter  Ferrard,  John  B.  Le  Tailleur,  John  Cantrell, 


108  ADMINISTRATION   OF   RETURN   J.    MEIG8. 

Charles  Clendinen,  Francis  Larquilhon,  John  Entsminger, 
Andrew  Johnson,  John  P.  R.  Bureau,  Levi  Mercer,  James 
Wilson,  Andrew  Lewis,  Spencer  E.  Gibson,  William  Clen 
dinen,  Benjamin  Burrage,  John  Bing,  Tobias  Rufiher,  David 
Ridgeway,  Thomas  Northup,  Christopher  Etienne,  Edward 
Farler,  Edward  McMullen,  Samuel  Logue,  Joseph  Fletcher, 
Orasha  Strong,  David  Reese,  Samuel  Blagg,  Robert  Saiford, 
David  Irwin,  Rene  Carel,  Lewis  Leclerc,  William  Sterrett, 
Peregrine  Foster,  Allen  Pryor,  Nathaniel  Gates,  Robert 
Herrilbrd,  Charles  Drinnen,  James  Callison,  John  B. 
Ferard,  Jos.  McMullen,  Toussaint  Shouman,  John  Atchison, 
Lewis  Summers,  and  Henry  Gushing. 

The  legislation  at  the  tenth  session  of  the  General  Assembly, 
1811-1812,  was  as  follows :  1.  Nathaniel  Hamilton,  Simeon 
Deming,  William  Ford,  and  their  associates,  were  incorpo 
rated  as  the  "  Wooster  Library  Society ;"  2.  John  McLean, 
Joseph  Canby,  and  Joshua  Collett,  directors,  Rev.  William 
Robertson,  Librarian,  and  Silas  Hurin,  Treasurer,  and  their 
successors,  were  incorporated  as  the  "  Lebanon  Library  So 
ciety;"  3.  Benjamin  Carpenter,  Ezekiel  Brown,  Solomon 
Jones,  Thomas  Brown,  (of  the  towns  of  Sunbury  and  Berk 
shire,  in  the  county  of  Delaware,)  and  their  successors,  were 
incorporated  as  the  "  Platonic  Library  Society  ;"  4.  Samuel  P. 
Hildreth  and  Seth  Adams  were  appointed  Trustees  of  the 
"  Ohio  University,"  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  author 
ized  to  loan  their  funds  collected  from  rents,  at  six  per  cent., 
and  to  anticipate  their  collections  by  the  issue  of  orders,  not 
to  exceed  in  amount  the  whole  amount  of  rents  payable  in  a 
succeeding  year ;  5.  Permanent  leases  for  mill-sites,  with 
eighty  acres  adjoining,  from  sections  16,  in  township  one, 
range  two,  and  in  township  two,  range  three,  between  the 
Miami  rivers,  were  authorized,  without  a  clause  of  re-valua 
tion  ;  and  6.  In  an  act  transferring  the  powers  of  the  Trustees 
and  Treasurer  of  fractional  townships  four,  fractional  range 
two,  of  Miami  Purchase,  to  the  officers  of  the  incorporated 
original  surveyed  townships,  is  found  the  following  provision, 
which  seems  the  first  direction  to  report  school  statistics. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF    RETURN   J.    MEIGS.  109 

"That  the  schoolmasters  in  said  fractional  township  shall 
each  keep  a  daily  account  of  each  and  every  scholar  sent  to 
his  school,  and  the  name  of  the  person  sending  them,  and 
transmit  a  certified  copy  of  the  same  to  the  said  Trustees,  on 
or  before  the  first  day  of  April,  annually ;  and  the  Trustees 
shall  make  out  a  fair  and  equal  dividend  of  the  net  proceeds 
of  said  school  section,  to  each  person  resident  in  said  town 
ship,  sending  to  school,  according  to  the  number  of  scholars 
sent  by  them  respectively,  and  the  time  for  which  they  have 
attended;  and  the  teacher's  receipt  as  to  any  of  the  lessees  of 
the  school  section,  shall  be  received  by  the  Trustees  in  pay 
ment  of  any  rents  due  from  them  respectively,  as  far  as  may 
then  be  due  to  the  said  lessee  or  lessees." 

The  war  of  1812,  with  its  preparation  and  events,  diverted 
public  attention  from  educational  activity.  During  the  three 
years  of  its  progress,  the  following  laws  were  enacted:  1. 
January  2,  1813,  Jacob  Burnet,  James  Findlay,  Daniel 
Symmes,  Nicholas  Longworth,  Ethan  Stone,  Ethan  -  A. 
Brown,  and  William  Barr,  were  organized  as  "  The  Circu 
lating  Library  Society  of  Cincinnati;"  2.  Provision  was  made, 
January  12th,  to  enla/ge  the  college  green  of  Ohio  University ; 
3.  February  4th,  Samuel  Sharpless,  John  Kinsey,  and  George 
Sharpless  were  allowed,  after  due  appraisement,  to  lease  per 
manently  204  acres  of  section  sixteen  in  township  six,  range 
three,  in  Belmont  county,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  fulling 
mill  thereon,  paying  six  per  cent,  upon  said  valuation,  but 
subject  to  re-valuation  every  thirty  years ;  4.  February  9th,  in 
consideration  that  many  of  the  lessees  of  school  lands  in  the 
Virginia  Military  Tract,  leased  at  Mansfield,  had  been  driven 
from  their  possessions  by  the  savage  enemies  of  our  country, 
it  was  enacted,  that  any  person  or  persons  who  had  pur 
chased  or  leased  any  tract,  or  tracts,  of  the  Virginia  Military 
school  lands,  and  had  not  improved  the  same,  should  have 
one  year  further  time  for  that  purpose;  5.  February  6th, 
William  Wilson  was  appointed  Trustee  of  Ohio  University ; 
6.  January  17,  1814,  another  year's  indulgence  was  al 
lowed  to  the  lessees  of  Virginia  school  lands,  and  the  Eegis- 
ter  required  to  report  to  the  General  Assembly  an  annual 
statement  of  sales ;  7.  January  19th,  John  Northrop,  David 


110  ADMINISTRATION    OF   RETURN   J.    MEIGS. 

Noble,  Samuel  Swan,  John  Davidson,  Asa  Baldwin,  Samuel 
Clark,  Joseph  Platt,  Abner  Webb,  Joseph  Merchant,  Charles 
A.  Boardman,  Nathaniel  Blakely,  Daniel  Fairchild,  George 
Stilson,  Eliakim  Stodard,  and  Richard  I.  Elliot,  were  incorpo 
rated  as  the  "  Boardman  Library  Company;"  but  the  property 
BO  held  (other  than  books,  maps,  and  charts)  was  limited  to 
$2,000,  and  the  corporation  was  prohibited  from  applying 
their  funds  to  any  other  purpose  than  that  of  establishing  and 
supporting  a  library  ;  8.  January  19th,  James  Youart,  George 
S.  Houston,  Asa  Coleman,  Cornelius  Westfall,  and  Alexan 
der  Telford,  were  incorporated  as  the  uTroy  Library  Society," 
in  the  county  of  Miami ;  9.  February  10th,  Lewis  Dille,  Da 
vid  Hendershot,  Alexander  McElrath,  Amos  Palmer,  Asa 
Dille,  Andrew  McElrath,  Thomas  McElrath,  Thomas  Thomas, 
Thomas  Barr,  Samuel  Dodge,  John  Shaw,  Daniel  S.  Judd, 
jr.,  Timothy  Doane,  Elias  Cazad,  and  William  Coleman, 
were  incorporated  as  "  The  Euclid  Library  Society,"  in  the 
county  of  Cuyahoga;  10.  February  llth,  original  surveyed 
township  three,  range  eight,  in  Washington  county,  and  town 
ship  six,  range  fourteen,  in  Gallia,  were  authorized  to  lease, 
permanently,  subject  to  re-valuation  every  thirty-three  years, 
their  school  lands ;  11.  December  22d,  the  act  incorporating 
the  "  Circulating  Library  Society  of  Cincinnati"  was  revised  ; 
12.  December  22d,  Bill  Kennedy,  Gideon  Finch,  John  Ford, 
Eleazer  Hickcox,  Uri  Hickcox,  Lyman  Benton,  Jedediah 
Beard,  Selah  Bradley,  Andrew  Durand,  Simeon  Rose,  and 
others,  were  incorporated  as  the  "  Village  Library  Society  of 
Burton,"  in  the  county  of  Geauga;  13.  January  13,  1815, 
James  A.  Nisbet,  Alexander  C.  Lamer,  Philip  Helm,  James 
Crawford,  and  their  associates,  were  incorporated  as  the 
"  Eaton  Library  Society,"  in  the  county  of  Preble  ;  14.  Jan 
uary  30th,  original  township  six,  range  ten,  in  Champaign 
county,  authorized  to  lease  section  sixteen  permanently,  with 
thirty-three  years  re- valuation;  15.  February  4,  William  Lytle, 
Martin  Baum,  Oliver  M.  Spencer,  Solomon  Langdon,  Wil 
liam  Burke,  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  John  S.  Gano,  John  II.  Piatt, 
Daniel  Symmes,  John  Kid,  Ezekiel  Hall,  Jacob  Wheeler, 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   THOMAS    WOETHINGTON.  Ill 

Jesse  Hunt,  Jaines  Findlay,  William  Henry  Harrison, 
Thomas  Graham,  William  Lyne,  David  E.  Wade,  William 
Ban*.  Joseph  Raffrer,  etc.,  were  incorporated  as  the  "Cincinnati 
Lancaster  Seminary;"  16.  February  16th,  the  "Northern  Social 
Library  Company,"  with  its  present  shareholders,  was  incorpo 
rated  at  Harpersfield,  in  Ashtabula  county;  IT.  February  16th, 
John  Lawrence  Lewes  and  Joseph  Wood,  of  Washington 
county,  Rev.  James  Culbertson,  of  Muskingum  county,  and 
Charles  R.  Sherman,  of  Fairfield,  were  appointed  Trustees  of 
Ohio  University. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THOMAS  WORTHINGTON— 1814-18. 

THE  summary  of  legislation  during  the  war,  has  antici 
pated  one  year  of  Governor  Worthington's  administration. 
Othniel  Looker,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  acted  as  Governor 
from  April  14  to  December  8,  1814,  Governor  Meigs  having 
resigned,  and  accepted  the  Post-Office  department  at  Wash 
ington. 

At  the  fourteenth  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  1815- 
16,  permanent  leases  were  authorized,  of  section  sixteen,  in 
township  8,  range  8,  in  Green  county,  in  township  2,  range  1, 
east  of  a  meridian  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Miami;  in  township  9,  fange  21,  in  Ross  county;  in  town 
ship  2,  range  12,  in  Gallia  county;  in  township  1,  range  4, 
in  United  States  Military  Tract,  in  Guernsey  county.  Char 
ters  were  granted  for  the  "Fearing  Library  Society,"  in 
Washington  county;  for  the  "Social  Library  Company  of 
Salem,"  in  Ashtabula  county;  and  for  the  "Dayton  Acad 
emy,"  in  Montgomery  county. 

At  this  session,  the  law,  directing  the  manner  of  leasing 


112  ADMINISTRATION    OF   THOMAS    WOBTUINaTON. 

the  Virginia  school  lands,  was  revised.  It  differed  from 
the  act  of  1809,  in  appointing  a  Register  for  three  years,  and 
in  requiring  a  re- valuation  of  the  premises,  exclusive  of  im 
provements.  After  1820,  the  Register  was  directed  to  lease 
lands  undisposed  of,  to  the  highest  bidder  above  the  ap 
praised  value,  who  should  annually  pay  six  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  thus  bid  and  accepted.  The  office  of  Treasurer  was 
merged  into  that  of  Register ;  but  the  latter  was  required  to 
account  to  the  State  Treasurer,  reserving  a  salary  of  $150, 
and  two  per  cent,  on  the  amount  received  and  paid  over  to 
the  State  Treasurer. 

At  the  fifteenth  session,  (the  first  held  at  the  present  seat 
of  government,)  Governor  Worthiugton,  in  his  message  of 
December  3,  1816,  held  the  following  language: 

"  Among  the  objects  which  claim  your  particular  attention, 
are  the  public  schools,  and  the  means  of  improving  the  mind 
of  the  rising  generation,  the  navigable  rivers,  and  public 
roads  of  the  State. 

"The  opportunity  of  acquiring  an  education  in  Ohio,  has 
hitherto,  been  confined  to  the  few,  and  as  a  general  dissemi 
nation  of  learning  necessarily  conduces  to  the  improvement 
of  morals  and  behaviour,  while  in  eifect  it  gives  to  the  peo 
ple  a  more  extensive  knowledge  of  their  rights,  it  becomes 
the  Legislature  of  a  free  State,  to  adopt  measures  co-extensive 
with  their  means  to  accomplish  these  objects." 

An  act  was  passed,  January  24,  1817,  for  the  incorpora 
tion  of  schools  and  library  companies.  Its  first  section  was 
as  follows : 

"  That  at  anytime  when  six  or  more  persons  shall  have 
associated  themselves  together  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
a  school  and  building  a  school-house,  or  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  library,  and  shall  have  given  themselves  a 
name,  it  shall,  and  may  be  lawful  for  such  associations  to  ob 
tain  letters  of  incorporation  in  the  following  manner:  Such 
persons  shall  make  out  and  subscribe  their  articles  of  associ 
ation,  in  which  shall  be  sot  forth  the  name  of  the  association, 
the  time  and  manner  of  electing  their  officers,  to  consist  of  a 
President  and  four  Trustees,  and  such  officer  to  serve  as 
Treasurer,  Clerk,  or  Librarian,  as  may  IK-  prnpor  and  neces- 
Kir\  ;  the  time  for  the  stated  meetings  of  the  President  and 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   THOMAS   WORTIIINGTON.  113 

Trustees,  and  the  method  of  convening  a  special  meeting. 
Such  articles  shall  make  provision  for  the  acquisition  and 
disposition  of  property,  real  and  personal,  by  the  association, 
and  shall  prescribe  the  manner  of  enacting  by-laws  for  the 
good  government  of.  the  school  or  library,  and  for  the  proper 
management  and  preservation  of  the  estate  and  funds  of  the 
association,  the  property  to  be  owned  by  such  association, 
except  philosophical  and  mathematical  apparatus,  books, 
maps,  and  charts,  shall  at  no  one  lime  exceed  the  value  of 
ten  thousand  dollars,  no  part  of  which  shall  at  any  time  be 
applied  to  any  other  purpose  than  the  establishment  and  sup 
port  of  a  school  or  a  library,  as  the  case  may  be." 

The  articles  of  incorporation  were  then  required  to  be 
approved  by  the  President,  Judge  of  Common  Pleas,  and 
two  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  recorded  in  the  county; 
the  corporate  powers  were  granted  in  the  usual  form,  and  all 
existing  associations,  for  schools  and  libraries,  allowed  to 
organize  under  this  act;  and  it  was  further  provided,  that 
if  any  association  so  incorporated,  used  their  funds  for 
banking  purposes,  or  in  any  way  deviated  from  the  pur 
poses  of  their  charter,  the  penalty  of  forfeiture  should  be 
enforced. 

A  general  method  of  leasing  school  lands  was  also  estab 
lished.  The  supervision  of  section  sixteen,  especially  in  the 
unorganized  surveyed  townships  of  the  State,  was  entrusted 
to  the  Commissioners  of  counties.  Three  freeholders,  when  an 
original  surveyed  township  was  unorganized,  were  to  be 
appointed  by  the  Commissioners,  to  lay  off  the  school  section 
thereof  into  convenient  lots  of  not  less  than  forty  nor  more 
than  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  and  appraise  the  same ; 
their  proceedings  being  recorded  by  the  clerk  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  township,  if  organized,  otherwise  by  the  clerk  of  the 
county  Commissioners.  Leases  might  then  be  executed,  or 
re-issued  to  former  lessees,  for  an  annual  rent  of  six  per  cent, 
on  the  appraised  value ;  but  the  premises  were  subjected  to 
re-valuation  every  thirty-three  years  by  three  freeholders,  as 
aforesaid.  The  Trustees,  or  Commissioners,  as  the  case  might 
be,  were  clothed  with  ample  remedies  for  the  collection  of 
rents — the  same,  however,  as  those  provided  by  the  various 

8 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   THOMAS    WORTHINGTON. 

special  acts  for  which  this  general  law  was  substituted.  If 
lots  could  not  be  leased  at  the  appraised  value  within  twelve 
months,  then  they  were  to  be  sold,  after  usual  notice,  to 
the  highest  bidder,  for  annual  rent.  The  fact  that  the  school 
lands  lay  in  a  different  county  from  a  fractional  township,  for 
whose  benefit  they  had  been  assigned,  was  declared  im 
material,  and  jurisdiction  given  to  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  to  make  partition,  with  the  aid  of  appraisers  and  a 
surveyor,  if  two  fractional  townships  held  their  school  lands  in 
the  same  section,  and  could  not  agree  on  the  division  and 
leasing  of  the  same. 

The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  authorized  to  lease  school 
lands  in  the  United  States  Military  District,  except  those 
granted  for  the  use  of  schools  in  the  Western  Reserve,  after 
their  survey,  division  into  one  hundred  and  sixty  acre  tracts, 
and  appraisement  by  three  freeholders,  whom  the  Court  ap 
pointed,  on  the  same  conditions  as  above,  of  permanent 
lease  and  re-valuation  every  thirty-three  years.  Whenever 
lessees  had  failed  to  improve  their  tracts  as  required  by  law, 
they  forfeited  their  right  to  receive  a  permanent  lease ;  but 
original  improvement  lessees,  who  had  fulfilled  their  stipu 
lations,  were  entitled  to  an  exclusive  privilege  of  receiving  a 
lease  for  the  tracts  so  held  by  them. 

It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  to  return  a 
copy  of  all  leases  so  granted,  to  the  county  Commissioners ; 
and  rents  were  to  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury  subject  to 
legislative  disposition,  in  conformity  with  the  original  grant. 
If  rents  were  in  arrears,  the  county  Treasurer,  by  the  direction 
of  the  county  Commissioners,  might  re-enter  and  re-sell  the 
permanent  lease.  Other  provisions  of  the  law  fixed  a  tariff 
of  fees  for  the  services  of  the  officers. 

Notwithstanding  this  general  law,  the  school  sections  of 
township  3.  range  2,  in  the  Miami  Purchase,  and  township  3  or 
8,  in  the  county  of  Gallia,  were  directed,  by  special  laws,  to  bo 
leased  permanently  without  a  clause  of  re- valuation,  in  con 
sideration  of  the  erection  of  mills  thereon. 

It  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  notice  the  special  enactments 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   THOMAS    WOKTHINGTON.  115 

in  respect  to  school  lands  or  school  incorporations,  as  from 
this  session,  general  acts  on  those  subjects  are  found  on 
the  statute  books.  Some  curiosities  of  legislation  may  be 
occasionally  noticed,  as  a  lottery  for  the  benefit  of  the  Ohio 
University,  but  local  legislation  thenceforth  becomes  too 
voluminous  for  continuous  citation. 

At  the  sixteenth  session,  we  ascertained  the  locality  of  the 
"  Erie  Literary  Society,"  the  first  organization  of  the  kind  by 
State  legislation,  it  will  be  remembered.  An  act  was  passed 
January  23,  1818,  exempting  from  taxation  all  lands  donated 
to  said  Society,  "for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  college  at 
Burton"  Geauga  county. 

Hamilton  county  was  released  from  the  operation  of  the 
general  law  of  the  preceding  session,  "for  leasing  school 
lands,"  and  remitted  to  the  operation  of  the  "act  to  incorpo 
rate  the  original  surveyed  townships." 

The  State  Library  was  founded  by  Governor  Worthington, 
who  made  an  appropriation  to  that  object  of  a  portion  of  his 
contingent  fund.  The  Legislature,  by  a  joint  resolution 
of  January  29,  1818,  first  recognized  the  existence  of  the 
State  Library.  This  resolution  was  as  follows : 

Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
that  the  following  rules  and  regulations  be  observed  in  the 
library  of  the  State  of  Ohio : 

1.  The  library  shall  be  kept  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the 
public  offices. 

2.  The  library  shall  be  opened  every  day  during  the  ses 
sion  of  the  General  Assembly,  Sundays  excepted,  from  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
from  four  o'clock,  until  eight  in  the  evening. 

3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Librarian  to  label  and  num 
ber  the  books,  and  make  and  preserve  due  catalogues  of  the 
same ;  he  shall  also  keep  an  accurate  account  ot  all  issues 
and  returns  of  books,  as  the  same  shall  be  made. 

4.  Books  issued  by  the  Librarian  shall  be  returned  as  fol 
lows  :  A  folio,  within  three  weeks ;  a  quarto,  within  two 
weeks ;  an  octavo,  or  duodecimo,  within  one  week ;  and 
no  member  shall  receive  more  than  one  folio,  one  quarto,  or 
two  octavos  or  duodecimos,  at  one  time,  unless  when  so  con 
nected  as  to  be  otherwise  useless. 


116  ADMINISTRATION    OF   THOMAS    WORTIIINGTON. 

5.  The  Librarian  shall  open  an  account  with  the  Governor, 
Secretary,  Treasurer,  and  Auditor  of  State,  the  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  their  respective  clerks,  in  which  he  shall  charge  them 
respectively  with  all  books  issued,  and  credit  them  with  all 
books  returned;  and  in  case  any  person  entitled  to  books 
shall  detain  one  beyond  the  limited  time,  he  shall  forfeit,  and 
be  charged  as  follows :     For  a  folio,  twenty-five  cents  per 
day ;    a   quarto,    octavo,   or  duodecimo,   twelve   and  a-half 
cents  per  day ;  which  forfeiture  may,  for  good  cause  shown, 
be  remitted  by  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate  or  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  for  the  time  being.     And  in  case  any  person  en 
titled  to  the  use  of  the  library  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  pay 
any  penalty  incurred  by  not  returning  any  book  or  books 
within  the  time  above  specified,  unless  the  same  shall  be  re 
mitted  as  aforesaid,  his  rights,  from  the  time  of  such  neglect 
or  refusal,  shall  cease,  and  until  he  shall  comply  with  these 
rules  and  regulations. 

6.  All  books  shall  be  returned  two  days  before  the  close  of 
a  session,  whether  the  time  allowed  for  the  use  thereof  be 
expired  or  not. 

7.  If  a  book  be  returned  damaged,  the  person  returning  it 
shall  not  be  entitled  to  another,  until  the  damage  for  the  hrst 
shall  be  satisfied,  and  the  Librarian  shall  charge  the  person 
therewith. 

8.  The  Librarian  shall,  two  days  before  the  termination  of 
every  session  of  the  Legislature,  furnish  the  Speakers  of  both 
Houses  with  a  list  of  members  who  have  been  delinquent, 
particularly  specifying  the  nature  of  the  delinquency ;  and  it 
*hall  be  the  duty  of  the  Speaker  of  each  House,  in  settling 
the  accounts  of  any  such  member,  to  retain  a  sum  equal  to 
double  the  value  of  the  book  or  books  detained ;  and  if  a 
part  of  a  set  shall  be  detained,  then  double  the  value  of  the 
whole  set,  and  also  a  sum  equal  to  the  fines  and  damages 
with  which  such  member  may  stand  charged. 

9.  That  before  any  Senator  or  Representative  shall  obtain 
leave  of  absence  for  the  remaining  part  of  the  session,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Speaker  of  either  House  to  ascertain, 
from  the  Librarian,  the  state  of  such  member's  account,  and 
in  case  such  Senator  or  Representative  shall  be  delinquent,  a 
MUM  shall  be  retained  to  cover  the  value  of  books  or  sets  of 
books  detained,  and  penalties  incurred. 

"And  be  it  further  resolved^  That  the  Governor  have 
charge  of  the  State  library  until  the  next  session  of  the  Gen 
eral  Assembly." 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   THOMAS   WORTHINGTON.  117 

Governor  Worthington  opened  his  communication  to  the 
General  Assembly,  at  its  sixteenth  session,  by  the  expression 
of  sentiments  which,  aside  from  other  evidences  of  his  sagacity, 
would  have  been  a  sufficient  warrant  for  his  high  rank 
among  the  early  statesmen  of  Ohio.  He  foreshadowed,  at  a 
period  so  remote  as  the  year  1817,  the  great  necessity  of  a 
normal  school,  and  we  doubt  whether  any  public  man  of  the 
country  has  recorded  an  earlier  recommendation  of  the  kind. 
The  discussion  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  was  long 
subsequent.  This  portion  of  his  message  is  annexed : 

"  While  in  the  enjoyment  of  these  extraordinary  blessings. 
we  should  not  forget  that  we  are  accountable  for  their  abuse, 
and  that  it  is  our  duty  to  use  all  the  means  in  our  power  to 
perpetuate  the  blessings  of  a  free  government  to  those  who 
may  corne  after  us.  This  is  the  duty  of  all,  but  more  especially 
of  those  to  whom  the  people  delegate  the  power  of  govern 
ment. 

"  With  a  view  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  duties  assigned  me, 
I  shall  recommend  for  your  consideration  such  subjects  as 
are  deemed  most  important  for  the  promotion  of  this  great 
object,  as  well  as  the  present  comfort  and  convenience  of  our 
fellow  citizens ;  and  first,  as  I  consider  it  most  important,  I 
recommend  to  your  particular  attention,  the  education  of  the 
rising  generation.  Without  information  and  knowledge,  the 
blessings  of  a  free  government  can  not  be  long  continued. 
The  wisest  and  best  men  in  all  ages  have  agreed  on  this  im 
portant  point;  and  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  it,  and  so 
anxious  that  it  should  be  attended  to,  were  our  forefathers, 
the  patriots,  who,  under  Providence,  gave  us  the  fair  heritage 
we  enjoy,  that  in  the  instrument  which  contains  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  our  government,  for  our  admonition, 
they  have  declared,  that  c  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge, 
being  necessary  to  good  government,  schools  and  the  means 
of  education  shall  forever  be  encouraged.' 

"  In  conformity  with  this  admirable  sentiment,  we  have 
received  from  the  United  States,  means,  to  a  very  consider 
able  extent,  which,  if  rightly  used,  would  go  great  lengths 
toward  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  To  bring  these 
means,  with  others,  if  necessary,  into  action ;  to  devise,  or 
ganize,  and  to  put  in  practice  a  system,  of  education  for  the 
rising  generation,  which  will  dispel  ignorance,  and  diffuse 
light  and  knowledge  throughout  the  State,  while  it  would  be 
one  among  the  greatest  benefits  which  could  be  conferred  on 


118  ADMINISTRATION    OF   THOMAS    WORTHINGTON. 

posterity,  would,  I  am  persuaded,  gentlemen,  be  the  most 
pleasing  duty  you  could  perform.  The  propriety  of  the 
measure  proposed,  and  the  means  of  effecting  it,  are  subjects 
which  should  be  examined  ;  of  the  propriety  of  the  measure, 
no  rational  mind  friendly  to  liberty  can  doubt ;  and  that  we 
possess  the  means,  if  earnestly  disposed  to  effect  the  object,  I 
have  as  little  doubt.  It  is  true  it  must  be  a  work  of  time ; 
hence  the  necessity  of  commencing  it. 

'•  The  great  difficulty  of  procuring  teachers  whose  moral 
character  and  other  qualifications  fit  them  to  enlighten  the 
minds,  and  shape  the  morals  of  the  rising  generation,  even 
when  suitable  compensation  can  be  made,  is  evident.  Indeed, 
it  but  too  often  happens  that  persons  of  the  most  profligate 
morals,  and  the  least  qualified,  seek  this  employment  as  a 
cover  for  idleness.  It  can  not  be  expected  that  any  thing  good 
can  proceed  from  so  corrupt  a  source.  In  the  formation  of  a 
superstructure,  the  foundation  must  be  solid,  to  make  it  lasting 
and  useful.  If  we  expect  in  our  youth  '  religion,  morality, 
and  knowledge,'  suitable  teachers  must  be  employed  to  pro 
duce  this  effect.  With  a  view  to  aid  in  effecting  this  desir 
able  object,  I  recommend  to  the  consideration  of  the  General 
Assembly  the  propriety  of  establishing,  at  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  a  free  school,  at  wrhich  shall  be  taught  the  different 
branches  of  an  English  education,  at  the  expense  of  the 
State,  to  such  number  of  boys,  the  children  of  parents  unable 
to  educate  them,  and  no  others,  as  the  Legislature  may  deem 
proper ;  that  whenever  young  men  thus  educated  shall  be 
come  qualified  for  that  purpose,  they  shall,  when  proper 
salaries  are  furnished  them,  have  the  preference  of  employ 
ment  in  the  public  schools  of  the  State,  and  shall  be  obliged 
to  serve  as  teachers  of  schools  until  they  are  twenty -one  years 
of  age,  and  afterward,  so  long  as  they  conduct  themselves 
well,  shall  have  the  preference  of  employment.  The  whole  to 
be  under  such  regulations  as  the  Legislature  may  from  time  to 
time  adopt." 

It  is  proper,  also,  to  preserve  Governor  Worth ington's  own 
allusion  to  the  foundation  of  the  State  library,  toward  the 
close  of  the  same  message : 

"  The  fund  made  subject  to  my  control  by  the  last  General 
Assembly,  besides  paying  the  ordinary  demands  upon  it,  and 
for  the  articles  mentioned  in  a  resolution  of  the  Legislature, 
of  the  28th  of  January,  1817,  has  enabled  me  to  purchase  a 
small  but  valuable  collection  of  books,  which  are  intended  as 
the  commencement  of  a  library  for  the  State.  In  the 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   THOMAS   WORTHINGTON.  119 

performance  of  this  act  I  was  guided  by  what  I  conceived  the 
best  interest  of  the  State,  by  placing  within  the  reach  of  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  such  information  as  will  aid 
them  in  the  discharge  of  the  important  duties  they  are  dele 
gated  to  perform." 

At  the  seventeenth  session  of  the  General  Assembly, 
1818-19,  Governor  Worthington,  in  his  last  communication, 
thus  further  expressed  himself  upon  the  subject  of  educa 
tion:  ~ 

"Among  the  measures  which  I  have  heretofore  recom 
mended  to  the  Legislature,  for  their  consideration,  and  on 
which  they  have  not  acted,  a  good  plan  for  the  education  of 
the  rising  generation,  has  been  considered  first  in  importance. 

"Time,  and  further  reflection,  have  confirmed  me  in  the 
opinions  I  have  before  communicated  ;  and  from  a  sense  of 
duty  to  the  State,  I  must  again  recommend  the  subject  to 
your  attention.  Surely,  nothing  can  be  more  important  than 
information,  to  the  citizens  of  a  government  free  as  ours  is. 
Indeed,  I  feel  convinced,  a  perpetuation  of  that  freedom  we 
now  possess,  greatly  depends  on  the  means  which  may  be 
used,  under  Providence,  to  produce  that  state  of  general  in 
formation  which  will  enable  the  people  to  appreciate  the  lib 
erty  they  enjoy.  From  my  own  observation,  I  am  fully  con 
vinced  it  is  the  first  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  adopt,  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible,  a  system  for  the  establishment  of  ele 
mentary  schools  throughout  the  State.  In  the  first  settlement 
of  a  country  like  ours,  the  labors  necessary  to  clear  the  lands 
and  produce  the  means  of  subsistence,  prevent,  in  a  great 
measure,  those  who  are  thus  employed,  from  giving  to  their 
children  even  a  common  education.  The  more  wealthy  citi 
zens,  who  possess  the  means,  will  educate  their  children, 
while  those  of  the  poorer  class,  whose  parents  have  not  the 
means,  yet  by  their  labor  are  greatly  promoting  the  prosperity 
of  the  State,  will  be  brought  up  in  a  state  of  comparative 
ignorance,  unable  to  manage,  with  propriety,  their  private 
concerns,  much  less  to  take  any  part  in  the  management  of 
public  affairs ;  and  what  is  still  more  to  be  lamented,  unac 
quainted  with  those  religious  and  moral  precepts  and  princi 
ples,  without  which  they  can  not  be  good  citizens  ;  I  am  fully 
aware  that  all  can  not  be  learned,  nor  receive  the  advantages 
of  an  education  of  the  highest  order ;  nor  is  this  necessary ; 
yet,  I  am  as  fully  convinced  it  is  within  the  power  of  the  State 
to  disseminate  a  general  state  of  information,  which  will  be  pro 
ductive  of  the  best  effects.  The  wealthy  are  deeply  interested 


120  ADMINISTRATION    OF   THOMAS    WORT1IINGTON. 

in  such  a  state  of  things.  Information,  and  the  practice 
of  moral  and  religious  principles,  never  fail  to  produce  order, 
and  secure  the  rights  of  property  in  society ;  they,  therefore, 
should  feel  a  willingness  to  contribute  to  ward  effecting  objects 
of  so  much  importance.  Information  is  common  stock,  or 
national  wealth ;  and  in  proportion  as  it  is  increased,  are  our 
means  enlarged  and  national  liberty  secured.  I  avail  myself 
of  this  last  opportunity  offered  me,  of  recommending  to  your 
serious  attention  a  subject  of  so  much  importance,  and  pro 
pose  for  your  consideration,  gentlemen,  the  propriety  of  ap 
pointing  one  person  from  each  judicial  circuit  of  this  State, 
who,  together,  shall  form  a  Board  for  school  purposes,  and 
who,  in  the  recess  of  the  Legislature,  shall  collect  such  in 
formation,  relative  to  the  school  funds  of  the  State,  and  who 
shall  lay  before  the  next  Legislature  such  a  system  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  elementary  schools  throughout  the  State,  as  they 
may  be  enabled  to  devise  from  all  the  information  to  be  ob 
tained  on  the  subject." 

The  valuable  suggestion  here  made,  was  not  immediately 
acted  upon,  although  the  messages  of  Governor  "Worthiugton 
gave  a  great  impulse  to  the  legislation  of  a  few  years  later. 
At  this  session,  Philander  Chase,  James  Kilbourne,  Thomas 
S.  Webb,  Chester  Griswold,  Recompence  Stansbury,  Chaun- 
cey  Barker,  Stephen  Maynard,  Ezra  Griswold,  Benjamin  Gar 
diner,  Orris  Parish,  Lucas  Sullivant,  and  Leonard  II.  Cowles, 
were  incorporated  as  "the  President  and  Trustees  of  the 
Worthington  College." 

By  an  act  passed  January  16,  1819,  the  purchasers  of  Vir 
ginia  Military  school  lands  were  authorized  to  assign  their 
lands ;  but  their  assignments  were  directed  to  be  recorded  by 
the  Register. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN    A.    BROWN.  121 


CHAPTER    X. 

ADMINISTRATION    OF    ETHAN  A.   BROWN  — 1818-1822. 

ALL  the  memorials  of  the  period  comprised  by  the  ad 
ministration  of  Governor  Brown,  show  great  financial  dis 
tress  among  the  people  of  the  State.  There  was  much  politi 
cal  excitement,  also,  in  the  General  Government,  by  the 
question  of  the  admission  of  Missouri,  and  in  the  home  Gov 
ernment,  growing  out  of  the  struggle  between  the  State  of 
Ohio  and  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  The  want  of  acces 
sible  markets,  bore  disastrously  upon  the  people.  The  lessees 
of  the  Virginia  military  school  lands  obtained  a  further  re 
mission  of  their  first  payment  of  six  per  cent. ;  and  neither 
Legislature  nor  people,  in  the  general  gloom,  were  prepared 
for  much  expenditure  in  behalf  of  schools.  Governor  Brown, 
in  his  message  of  December  5,  1820,  presented  a  very  unfa 
vorable  view  of  the  school  fund,  arising  from  the  rents  of 
section  sixteen.  He  said : 

"  You  can  not  fail  to  be  sensible  of  the  confidence  reposed 
in  your  disposition  to  encourage  the  pursuit  of  useful  knowl 
edge,  by  the  best  application  of  the  means  in  your  power,  of 
which  you  shall  believe  them  capable.  So  far  as  my  informa 
tion  extends,  the  appropriation  of  the  school  lands  in  this 
State  has  produced,  hitherto,  (with  few  exceptions,)  no  very 
material  advantage  in  the  dissemination  of  instruction — none 
commensurate  with  their  presumable  value.  Whether  this 
be  owing  to  the  comparatively  new  state  of  the  country, 
and  the  low  rate  of  rents  ;  whether  the  property  has  been  let 
too  low,  or  durable  leases  given  at  unpropitious  periods  ;  or 
whether  the  fault,  if  any,  be  attributable  to  an  injudicious 
application  of  the  proceeds,  or  expense  of  the  management,  is 
difficult  to  decide,  from  defect  of  official  returns  to  Govern 
ment  on  the  subject.  If  an  inquisition  were  made,  especially 
where  no  account  is  rendered  to  you,  to  ascertain  the  value, 


122  ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN    A.    BROWN. 

the  proceeds  and  their  expenditure,  and  the  condition  of  these 
lands,  it  might  assist  the  Legislature  in  forming  systematic 
regulations,  to  prevent  the  useless  dissipation  of  this  fund, 
and  direct  its  application,  effectually,  to  the  purpose  in 
tended." 

Nevertheless,  under  these  depressing  circumstances,  the 
foundation  was  laid  of  the  present  school  system  of  Ohio. 
On  the  22d  of  January,  1821,  an  "  act  to  provide  for  the 
regulation  and  support  of  common  schools,"  was  passed  in 
the  following  terms : 

"SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  several  townships 
in  this  State,  shall  give  public  notice  in  writing,  set  up  at  three 
of  the  most  public  places  within  their  respective  townships, 
before  the  elections  in  March,  notifying  the  electors  within 
said  township,  to  vote  at  the  next  township  election,  for  or 
against  organizing  said  township  into  school  districts  ;  and  if 
a  majority  of  all  the  votes  given  by  householders,  should 
be  in  favor  of  such  organization,  the  Trustees  shall,  within 
twenty  days  thereafter,  lay  off  the  same,  or  any  part  thereof, 
into  school  districts  ;  which  districts  when  so  laid  off,  shall 
not  contain  less  than  twelve,  nor  more  than  forty  house 
holders  :  Provided  always,  That  the  Trustees  shall  not  allow 
themselves,  or  receive  any  compensation  for  their  services 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

"  SEC.  2.  That  if  the  Trustees  of  any  township  should  be 
of  opinion,  that  the  interest  of  the  inhabitants  of  any  neigh 
borhood  would  be  better  subserved  by  laying  off  school 
districts  from  parts  of  one  or  more  of  the  adjoining  town 
ships,  and  it  should  appear  to  be  the  wrish  of  the  inhabitants 
of  such  neighborhood  so  situated,  they  shall  notify  the 
Trustees  of  such  adjoining  township  or  townships,  to  meet  at 
such  time  as  they  may  appoint,  at  some  place  within  the 
district  to  be  laid  off;  and  when  so  met,  if  a  majority  of 
them  think  expedient,  they  may  lay  off  such  district. 

USEC.  3.  That  whenever  the  inhabitants  of  any  neigh 
borhood  may  wish  to  be  laid  off  into  a  school  district,  the 
Trustees  having  previously  omitted  to  lay  off  said  neighbor 
hood  into  school  districts,  they  may,  on  petition  signed  by  two- 
thirds  of  such  householders,  be  entitled  to  be  laid  off  into 
a  school  district,  for  the  purposes  contemplated  in  this  act,  if 
the  Trustees  of  such  township  or  townships  shall  deein 
it  expedient,  and  the  petitioners  shall  be  bound  to  pay  the 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   ETHAN   A.    BROWN.  123 

expenses  thereof;  and  on  petitions  as  aforesaid,  the  Trustees 
may  proceed  to  lay  off  new  districts  from  parts  of  one  or 
more  contiguous  districts,  if  it  shall  appear  to  them  that 
the  petitioners  aforesaid  are  situated  at  an  inconvenient 
distance  from  the  school-house  or  houses  of  their  district 
or  districts,  (as  the  case  may  be,)  or  that  the  interest  of 
such  neighborhood  would  be  promoted  thereby,  so  that  in  no 
case  shall  the  number  of  householders  in  such  district,  or 
either  of  the  old  districts  from  which  it  may  have  been  laid 
off,  be  less  than  twelve,  such  petitioners  paying  the  expense 
as  aforesaid. 

"  SEC.  4.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Trustees  shall, 
in  all  cases,  cause  the  township  Clerk  to  make  a  record 
of  each  district  so  laid  off;  and  when  such  district  shall 
consist  of  parts  of  two  or  more  townships,  the  Clerks  of  the 
several  townships  in  which  such  district  may  be  situated, 
shall  record  the  same. 

"SEC.  5.  That  the  Trustees,  in  laying  off  school  districts, 
shall  have  regard  to  any  school  company  incorporated  under 
the  provisions  of  the  act,  entitled  ;  an  act  to  provide  for 
the  incorporation  of  school  and  library  companies,'  or  under 
any  other  law  for  the  incorporation  of  school  companies  ; 
so  far  as  to  include  the  members  of  such  incorporation  within 
one  district,  and  not  to  affect  their  corporate  rights. 

"  SEC.  6.  That  the  householders  in  each  of  the  school  dis 
tricts,  shall  meet  at  such  places  as  may  be  agreed  upon  in 
said  district  on  the  first  Monday  of  May,  in  each  year; 
and  when  so  met,  to  the  number  of  ten  or  more,  they  may 
proceed  to  elect  three  of  said  householders,  as  a  School  Com 
mittee  for  said  district;  and  also  some  suitable  person  as 
Collector,  who,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  shall  be  Treasurer 
for  said  district ;  and  said  Committee  shall  appoint  a  Clerk, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  keep  a  record  of  such  meetings,  and 
to  make  out  such  tax  bills  and  keep  such  accounts  as  the 
Committee  may  direct ;  and  said  Committee,  Collector,  and 
Clerk,  shall  hold  their  appointments  until  their  successors  are 
elected  and  qualified. 

"  SEC.  7.  That  the  Committee  aforesaid  be,  and  they  are 
hereby  authorized  to  cause  the  erection  of  a  school-house  in 
some  convenient  place  in  each  district;  and  for  that  purpose, 
they  are  hereby  authorized  to  receive,  by  donation  or  purchase, 
any  quantity  of  land  not  exceeding  two  acres  that  they  may 
think  expedient ;  and  the  title  of  the  same  shall  be  vested  in 
said  School  Committee  and  their  successors  in  office,  to 
and  for  the  use  of  said  district,  for  the  purposes  as  aforesaid ; 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN   A.    BROWN. 

two-thirds  of  such  householders  having  previously  at  their 
meeting,  agreed  upon  the  erection  of  such  school-house. 

USEC.  8.  That,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  land  on 
which  to  erect  such  school-house,  the  Committee  may  apply 
any  donation  or  subscription  which  may  be  made  lor  that 
purpose,  together  with  the  taxes  which  they  are  authorized  to 
raise  by  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

^  "SEC.  9.  That  the  property  of  all  persons  residing  in  said 
district,  and  which  property  may  be  situated  therein,  and  lia 
ble  to  taxation  for  State  or  county  purposes,  shall  be  liable 
to  be  taxed  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  school-house  as 
aforesaid,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  making  up  the  defi 
ciency  that  may  accrue  by  the  schooling  of  children,  where 
parents  or  guardians  are  unable  to  pay  for  the  same ;  and  said 
Committee  is  hereby  authorized  to  assess  taxes  for  these  pur 
poses,  on  property  as  aforesaid,  not  exceeding,  in  any  one 
year,  one-half  of  the  amount  of  taxes  which  might,  by  law, 
have  been  levied  on  the  same  objects  for  State  or  county  pur 
poses;  and  said  Collector  shall  have  power  to  collect  tho 
same,  in  such  manner  as  county  taxes  are  collected. 

"SEC.  10.  That  the  Committee  aforesaid  are  hereby  author 
ized  to  employ  a  competent  teacher  or  teachers,  for  such  term 
of  time  as  they  may  judge  for  the  interest  of  the  district,  in 
each  year ;  and  such  school  shall  be  open  to  all  the  scholars 
of  a  suitable  age  within  said  district,  and  the  Committee  are 
hereby  authorized,  quarterly,  or  at  such  other  times  as  they 
may  deem  expedient,  to  cause  the  expenses  of  said  school  to 
be  assessed  on  the  parents  or  guardians  of  all  the  scholars, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  scholars  who  may  have  been 
schooled,  being  residents  in  such  district,  and  the  collection 
shall  be  made  by  the  Collector  as  aforesaid :  Provided,  how 
ever,  That  said  Committee  may  remit  the  whole  or  any  part 
of  said  assessment,  which,  in  their  opinion,  may  have  been 
assessed  on  parents  or  guardians  who  are  unable  to  pay  the 
same,  and  such  deficiency,  if  any  such  there  should  be,  shall 
be  paid  from  the  rund  raised  by  taxes,  as  are,  in  the  ninth 
section  of  this  act,  authorized  to  be  raised  for  that  pur 
pose. 

"Sfic.  11.  That  the  Committee  may  require  of  the  Col 
lector  acting  as  Treasurer  for  the  proper  district,  such  bonds 
as  they  may  think  sufficient,  for  the  punctual  paying  over  all 
moneys  by  him  received,  on  the  orders  of  the  Committee, 
attested  by  the  Clerk,  for  tho  purposes  aforesaid,  excepting 
the  amount  of  two  per  cent,  which  he  may  be  allowed  to 
retain,  as  a  compensation  for  his  services;  and  the  Clerk 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN   A.    BROWN.  125 

shall  keep  an  account  with  the  Treasurer,  which  shall 
be  adjusted  and  settled  under  direction  of  said  Com 
mittee,  from  time  to  time,  as  said  Committee  may  deem 
expedient ;  and  on  failure  of  such  Treasurer  to  pay  over  the 
money  he  may  have  in  his  hands,  on  the  order  of  the  Com 
mittee,  he  shall  be  liable  on  the  suit  of  such  Committee,  in 
any  court  having  competent  jurisdiction,  to  pay  the  same  with 
out  stay  of  execution,  together  w^ith  ten  per  cent,  damages ; 
and  said  Committee  are  hereby  authorized  to  sue  for,  and 
recover  the  same :  Provided,  however,  That  no  person  ex 
cept  the  Collector,  shall  be  allowed  any  fees  or  compensation 
for  his  services  under  this  act. 

"SEC.  12.  That  in  such  townships  as,  by  law,  are  entitled 
to  public  moneys  from  the  rent  of  section  number  sixteen,  or 
other  school  lands,  the  Trustees  of  such  township  shall  allow 
said  district  its  proportion  of  such  money,  to  be  ascertained 
and  proportioned  under  such  laws  as  may  be  in  force  at  the 
time  application  may  be  made,  regulating  the  application  and 
division  of  such  school  fund ;  and  the  Treasurers  of  the  sev 
eral  school  districts  are  hereby  authorized  to  receive  the  same, 
for  which  they  shall  be  accountable  to  said  Committee,  in  the 
same  manner  as  they  are  accountable  for  the  other  moneys 
coming  into  their  hands  by  the  provisions  of  this  act." 

At  the  same  session  the  law  was  revised  which  provided 
for  leasing  the  school  lands  within  the  United  States  Military 
District,  retaining  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  but  separating  the  fund  thus  accumulated,  from  the 
State  treasury,  and  directing  its  custody  and  distribution  by 
the  Treasurers  of  the  respective  counties  interested  therein. 

By  the  following  extract  from  Governor  Brown's  annual 
message,  delivered  December  4,  1821,  it  appears  that  the 
Congressional  land  endowment  for  schools  was,  at  that  time, 
the  subject  of  very  earnest  discussion  throughout  the  Union. 
His  observations  are  full  of  historical  interest: 

"  I  have  possessed  no  means  of  acquiring  information  for 
the  Legislature  of  the  success  that  has  followed  the  act  '  to 
provide  for  the  regulation  and  support  of  common  schools  ;' 
you  must,  of  course,  judge  of  its  operation  in  your  respective 
neighborhoods,  from  your  own  observation.  In  this  state  of 
things,  new  suggestions  from  me  on  this  head  would  proba 
bly  be  premature.  I  will,  therefore,  barely  repeat  the  remark, 
that  in  devising  and  improving  a  plan  for  the  establishment 


126  ADMINISTRATION   OF   ETHAN   A.    BROWN. 

of  common  schools,  accounts  of  the  value  and  revenue  of  the 
section  number  sixteen,  may  be  of  some  consequence. 

"Notwithstanding  that  the  appropriations  of  lands  in  the 
western  country,  for  the  support  of  schools,  have  hitherto 
been  very  little  productive,  as  a  literary  fund,  their  advantage 
and  value  have  been  very  highly  appreciated  by  a  part  of  our 
brethren  in  the  eastern  States.  A  report  and  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  and 
now  laid  before  you,  will  show  that  a  claim  is  advanced  to  a 
portion  of  the  public  lands  in  the  new  States  and  the  territo 
ries,  equal  to  one-thirty-sixth  part  of  the  area  of  each  old 
State,  with  the  addition  of  one-fifth  of  that  amount,  to  equal 
ize,  as  is  pretended,  a  participation  of  endowment  for  schools, 
from  this  fund,  among  the  States  having  common  property 
in  the  national  possessions.  The  pretensions  therein  set 
forth,  and  supported  by  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  I 
respectfully  advise,  should  meet  the  remonstrance  of  this 
Assembly,  to  prevent  a  scheme,  founded  on  principles  be 
lieved  to  be  mistaken  and  erroneous,  and  fraught  with  serious 
wrong  to  this,  with  the  other  new  States,  and  the  territories. 

"  Among  the  grounds  urged  in  support  of  the  claim,  much 
apparent  confidence  is  placed  in  the  c  regal '  ownership  of  the 
provinces  before  the  war  of  the  revolution,  and  the  joint  con 
quest  of  all  the  public  land  embraced  by  the  treaty  of  1783 ; 
which  principle,  if  extended,  would  include  the  public  lands 
within  the  present  limits  of  the  original  States. 

"  As  the  discussion  of  the  right  of  property,  in  that  portion 
ceded  to  the  Union  by  some  of  its  members,  was  supposed  to 
be  terminated  by  the  cession,  and  the  destination  of  the  lands 
is  no  longer  a  question — as  the  property  of  particular  States 
in  public  domains  retained  in  their  respective  jurisdictions, 
for  their  own  purposes,  has  been  long  acquiesced  in  by 
common  consent,  and  as  it  is  not  even  pretended  that  the 
share  of  any  claimant,  in  the  proposed  distribution,  can  now 
be  augmented,  on  account  of  the  public  land  so  retained — it 
is  not  easy  to  perceive  why  we  should  be  called  to  renew  an 
inquisition  into  the  motives  and  consideration  of  the  accom 
modation.  If  those  States  shall  consent  to  revive  the  ques 
tion,  justice  will  award  to  us  possessions  far  more  extensive 
than  those  which  have  been  heretofore  allowed.  It  is,  there 
fore,  believed,  with  all  due  respect  for  the  Legislatures  and 
the  revolutionary  merits  of  the  two  States  before  mentioned, 
that  neither  justice  nor  policy  countenance,  on  this  occasion, 
a  recurrence  to  the  topic  of  4  regal  or  proprietary  ownership ;' 
which  may  serve  to  embarrass,  but  not  to  ebuadate  the  question 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN    A.    BKOWN.  127 

proposed  to  be  triumphantly  carried  by  a  majority  formed  of 
'ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTY-NINE  VOTES  against  SEVENTEEN!' 
An  intimation  of  power  you  may  be  surprised  to  see  intro 
duced  into  an  argumentative,  official  document,  by  a  sister 
State,  from  whom  we  should  have  expected  a  more  magnani 
mous  sentiment,  in  discussing  a  question  of  relative  and  dis 
tributive  justice. 

"  The  new  States  include  their  school  lands  ;  but  a  differ 
ent  basis  of  computation  is  proposed  for  the  old.  ~No  par 
ticular  mention  is  made  of  our  contribution,  to  acquire  the 
Indian  title ;  no  plan  promulgated,  as  an  equipoise  to  the 
condition  of  settlement ;  no  allusion  made  in  our  favor  to  the 
fact,  that  Louisiana  and  the  Yazoo  lands  were  not  purchased 
by  the  treasure  of  the  sixteen  enumerated  States  alone ;  nor 
that  the  receipts  for  public  land  would  have  been  less  had  not 
the  inhabitants  north  of  the  Ohio  stood  the  brunt  of  frontier 
wars.  Eespect  prevents  an  imputation  of  these  errors  and 
omissions  to  any  other  than  accidental  causes,  and  solicitude 
of  the  claimants  for  their  own  interest ;  but  an  equal  vigilance 
for  that  of  their  western  brethren  could  hardly  have  excluded 
us  totally  from  the  benefit  of  the  uncontested  argument,  that 
'  the  common  property  ought  to  enure  to  the  common  use.' 

"  Presuming  that  the  disquisition  of  relative  merit  in  the 
acquisition  might  well  have  been  avoided  in  these  reports,  I 
trust  you  will  support  me  in  controverting  the  position  that 
'the  literary  appropriations,  heretofore  made,  have  been 
granted  for  State,  and  not  for  national  purposes  /  and  appro 
priated,  exclusively,  to  the  use  of  the  western  citizen ;'  and  I 
rely  on  your  assent,  in  contending  that  no  part  of  the  grants, 
treated  throughout  the  reports  as  pure  and  simple  donations, 
has  been  ceded  to  us,  nor  probably  to  any  western  State, 
without  a  consideration  to  the  full  value. 

"  In  tracing  the  financial  history  of  the  Union,  it  will  be 
found,  that  so  early  as  May,  1805,  Congress  devised  a  plan 
for  the  disposal  of  the  western  lands,  of  which  the  reservation 
of  section  number  sixteen,  for  schools,  forms  a  feature  which 
has  been,  ever  since,  preserved.  We  shall  be  far  from  denying 
the  meritorial  destination  of  the  concession ;  but  it  seems 
sufficiently  apparent,  although  it  may  not  be  found  '  in  the 
preambles  of  acts,'  that  in  the  embarrassment  of  the  treasury 
attending  that  period,  when  the  nation  was  too  poor  to  be 
generous,  Congress  must  have  been  actuated  by  other  mo 
tives  than  the  mere  encouragement  of  literature  in  a  country 
destitute  of  white  people.  The  raising  of  money,  and  the 
value  of  their  possessions  by  sale  and  population,  were  more 


128  ADMINISTRATION   OF   ETHAN   A.    BROWN. 

pressing  considerations,  when  the  inducement  of  a  school 
section  was  proposed,  on  condition  of  settlement /  which  has 
continued  to  be  offered  and  accepted ;  the  object  being 
marked,  by  its  inuring  to  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants, 
within  each  surveyed  township.  Those  school  lauds  within 
the  purchases  of  the  c  Ohio  Company,'  and  in  John  Cleves 
Symmes's,  were  clearly  a  stipulation  for  valuable  considera 
tion.  The  three  college  townships,  there  contracted  for,  are 
all  the  grants  in  Ohio  for  seminaries  of  a  higher  grade  than 
common  schools  ;  and  their  amount  comports  but  ill  with  the 
arithmetic  of  the  equalizing  design.  In  ordinary  transac 
tions,  a  measure,  analogous  to  this  pursued  by  Congress, 
could  not  be  mistaken ;  it  is  every  day's  practice,  without 
being  thought  to  lay  the  purchaser  under  obligation.  The 
same  reasoning  will  apply  to  the  three  per  cent,  fund,  for  the 
making  of  roads. 

"It  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  some  distinction  may  be 
drawn, -in  this  respect,  between  those  settlers  in  the  military 
tracts  on  Connecticut  Reserve,  and  our  other  inhabitants ; 
yet  the  case  of  the  former  constitutes  but  a  part  of  the  system 
to  induce  settlement,  and  receives,  besides,  some  counter-bal 
ance  from  the  actual  sale  in  the  purchases  aforesaid.  Even 
a  gratuity  to  the  revolutionary  soldier  can  surely  form  no 
item  of  bounty  to  the  State,  in  prejudice  to  other  members  of 
the  confederacy  ;  nor  can  the  question  of  "  exclusive  benefit " 
be  affected  by  the  circumstance  that  the  grants  wrere  secured 
to  us  by  compact. 

"  But  I  beg  leave  to  observe,  that,  beside  the  consideration 
thus  paid  by  our  citizens,  the  State,  as  a  body  politic,  has 
abundantly  remunerated  the  old  members  of  the  Union  for 
the  school  lands,  and  all  other  grants  made  to  her  on  her  ad 
mission. 

"  The  act  of  cession  by  Virginia,  conforming  with  the  or 
dinance  of  1787,  required  that  States  should  be  formed  in  the 
ceded  territory,  and  'admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States,  IN  ALL  RESPECTS  WHATEVER.' 
It  will  be  recollected,  that  in  construing  this  provision,  there 
were  not  wanting  politicians,  who  maintained,  that  if  this 
were  '  admitted  a  member  of  the  Union,  having  the  same 
rights  of  freedom,  sovereignty ',  and  independence,  as  the  other 
States,'  the  United  States  would  be  placed  in  the  situation  of 
other  proprietors  here,  as  respects  the  liability  of  their  lands 
to  be  taxed.  No  such  claim  was  insisted  on  at  the  time  of 
our  admission,  and  the  compact  exempted  their  property, 
to  the  presumed  amount  of  14,500,000  acres,  from  taxation, 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN   A.    BROWN.  129 

for  five  years  after  it  should  be  sold.  The  exemption  was  not 
for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  individual  proprietors  ;  its  effect 
upon  the  price  of  public  and  of  other  land  is  obvious — it 
added  to  the  domestic  taxes,  and  retarded  public  improve 
ment.  This  immunity,  at  the  medium  rate  of  taxation, 
imposed  by  acts  of  the  State  Legislature,  amounts  in  five 
years,  to  more  than  $900,000.  In  return  for  which  the  State 
of  Ohio  has  received, 

1.  The- school  lands,  (if  admitted,)  which  should  be  rejected 
from  this  account,  as  otherwise  paid  for.  Their  amount  for  the 
whole  State,  including  the  college  township,  is  estimated  at 
about  750,000  acres. 

It  is  probably  incorrect  to  estimate  these  lands  to  us,  by 
the  average  of  receipts  for  many  years,  during  which  our 
population  had  received  a  prodigious  increase,  and  the 
country  became  considerably  cultivated.  The  inhabitants 
should  not  be  charged  with  the  increased  value  derived  from 
their  labor.  Congress,  after  twenty  years  experience,  has 
reduced  the  price  fixed  in  1800.  It  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  price  of  the  public  land,  sold  before  the  opening 
of  the  land  offices,  was  payable  in  evidences  of  the  public 
debt ;  and  the  value  of  these  securities,  at  the  time  of  the 
contracts,  should  be  calculated.  Choice,  too,  was  offered  of  a 
large  region  of  country ;  the  goodness  of  No.  16  depending 
upon  chance,  and  the  enjoyment  of  it  remote.  The  true 
method  would  have  been,  to  have  estimated  the  value  of  the 
literary  appropriations  of  Ohio  in  1802  ;  and  they  would  then 
have  been  rated  high  at  thirty  cents  per  acre. 

2.  Three  per  cent,  on  the  nett  proceeds  from  the  sale  of 
lands  in  the  State,  for  roads ;  the  amount  received,  and  esti 
mate  of  that  expected,  when  the  land  shall  be  sold,  amount 
ing  to  $600,000. 

So  far  as  the  application  of  this  fund  should  serve  to 
enhance  the  value  of  land,  the  benefit  the  United  States 
might  have  calculated  to  derive  from  it,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  (to  that  of  the  State,)  as  14£  to  9£.  If  we  admit  its 
immediate  convenience  to  the  people,  to  balance  the  advan 
tages  accruing  to  both  parties  from  the  expenditure  of  the 
fund,  it  might  obviate  objections  to  charging  the  United 
States  with  one-half. 

3.  The  thirty-six  sections  including  certain  salt  springs— un- 
alienable — the  grant  clogged  with  conditions  that  prevent  their 
being  made  available,  and  if  placed  in  the  market  at  the  time 
of  their  highest  and  overrated  estimation,  not  worth  the  lowest 
cash  price  of  public  land  under  the  late  system. 

9 


130  ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN    A.    BROWN. 

Allowing  the  whole  of  these  items,  we  are  left  creditors  to 
a  large  amount. 

But  the  more  correct  statement  of  this  account,  will  proba 
bly  be  as  follows : 

Five  years  taxes, $906,250. 

School  lands $000,000. 

One-half  three  per  cent,  fund, 300,000. 

Salt  spring  sections,  never  productive  to  the 
State,  and  never  likely  to  be  so,  under  existing 

regulations, 000,000.     . 

$300,000. 

In  order  to  meet  various  views  on  the  subject, 
we  may  make  a  copious  allowance  from  this 
difference, 606,250. 

And  still  exhibit  a  balance  of  half  a  million  of  dollars, 
devoted  to  national,  and  not  to  State  purposes. 

"  I  think  it  is,  therefore,  plain,  .that  in  every  point  of  view 
in  which  the  framers  of  the  reports  have  thought  proper 
to  place  the  subject,  their  claim  can  not  be  sustained 
without  disturbing  the  principles  of  harmony  on  which  the 
cessions  to  the  Union  were  adjusted — without  a  breach  of 
equity  towards  the  adopted  members  of  the  political  family, 
nor,  in  the  language  of  the  reports,  c  without  a  violation 
of  the  spirit  of  our  national  compact,'  as  well  as  the  prin 
ciples  of  justice  and  sound  policy. 

These  tacts  are  not  adduced  by  way  of  complaint  that  Ohio 
has  yielded  for  a  poor  equivalent,  rights  and  privileges 
necessary  to  place  her  emphatically  on  an  equal  footing. 
We  have  asked  no  favors  from  the  United  States,  on  the 
score  of  a  hard  bargain.  We  are  even  less  querulous  than 
some  of  our  eastern  brothers,  who,  in  order  to  raise  money 
and  the  value  of  their  land,  offered  a  premium  to  their 
citizens  to  settle  in  the  west,  and  now  officially  complain 
they  suffer  by  the  emigration.  The  complaint,  on  our  part, 
is  against  a  scheme  that  treats  our  school  lands  as  a  gratui 
tous  bounty,  entitling  the  claimants  to  a  donation  without  our 
participation — against  this  agrarian  project,  which  might, 
with  the  same  propriety,  embrace  a  three  per  cent,  road  fund, 
graduated  on  the  same  scale. 

u  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  the  grants  to  the  new 
States  are  not  favors,  and  the  case  the  report  supposes,  of  a 
grant  made  to  New  York,  and  refused  to  Virginia,  will  not 
apply  to  our  situation.  In  the  supposition  of  an  appropria 
tion  of  the  revenue  arising  from  commerce,  to  education  in  a 
favored  State,  exclusively,  the  analogy  equally  fails.  A 
more  parallel  hypothesis  would  have  been,  in  supposing  a 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ETHAN   A.    BROWN.  131 

State  to  have  relinquished  a  large  amount  of  her  internal 
taxes,  and  her  citizens  to  have  paid  large  sums,  in  considera 
tion  of  a  grant  for  their  benefit. 

"  If  land  in  Ohio  should  be  specially  granted  to  the  origi 
nal  States,  and  they  should  retain  it,  to  derive  revenue  from 
the  cultivation,  (which,  however,  may  not  be  intended,)  you 
are  too  familiar  with  the  consequences  of  expending,  in  the 
Atlantic  States,  the  public  money  raised  here,  not  to  be  sensi 
ble  of  the  impoverishing  effect,  to  be  caused  by  an  additional 
drain  of  the  annual  rents  from  a  large  district  of  country. 

"Though  the  appropriations  now  claimed  should  be  re 
fused,  it  can  not  thence  be  inferred,  that  this  State  will  remain 
indebted  for  her  future  rank  in  the  scale  of  literature,  or  her 
children,  for  the  rudiments  of  education,  to  the  generosity  of 
the  old  States,  by  reason  of  the  liberality  of  the  grants  here 
tofore  made  to  her ;  since  it  should  be  remembered  that,  in 
1802,  the  few  inhabitants  of  our  still  young,  though  proud 
State  of  Ohio,  just  breathing  from  the  hardships  of  their  new 
settlements,  under  the  numerous  disadvantages  described, 
without  public  treasure  or  domain,  concluded  an  arrange 
ment  with  Congress,  whereby  they  made  a  sacrifice  to  the 
general  prosperity,  of  an  offering  so  great,  as  I  have  attempted 
to  explain." 

Allen  Trimble,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  was  acting  Gov 
ernor  from  January  4,  1822,  to  December  8,  1822,  Governor 
Brown  having  resigned  at  the  former  date. 

Governor  Trimble,  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  the 
General  Assembly,  announced  in  his  message  of  December 
4,  1822,  that  he  had  appointed  Messrs.  Caleb  Atwater,  John 
Collins,  James  Hoge,  Nathan  Guilford,  Ephraim  Cutler, 
Josiah  Barber,  and  James  M.  Bell,  Commissioners,  to  report 
a  system  of  education  adapted  to  common  schools. 

At  this  period,  a  strong  disposition  in  favor  of  uncondi 
tional  sales  of  the  school  land,  was  manifested  in  the  Legisla 
ture  ;  but  doubts  were  entertained  whether  the  assent  of  Con 
gress  was  not  requisite.  An  act  was  passed  January  27, 
1823,  that  whenever  leases  of  school  lands  were  surrendered, 
no  lease  should  afterward  be  granted  for  a  longer  term  than 
one  year,  with  a  condition  against  waste ;  and  the  Registers 
of  the  Yirgiriia  and  United  States  military  fund  were  required 
to  make  a  detailed  report  to  the  ensuing  General  Assembly. 


132  ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEREMIAH    MORROW. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEREMIAH  MORROW— 1822-26. 

GOVERNOR  MORROW  added  to  his  other  claims  to  grateful 
remembrance  by  the  people  of  Ohio,  a  deep  interest  in  com 
mon  school  education.  This  is  apparent  from  the  following 
passage  of  his  message,  delivered  on  the  2d  of  December, 
1823,  at  the  twenty-second  session  of  the  General  Assembly : 

"Provisions  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  and  the 
support  of  schools,  have  been  the  frequent  topic  of  executive 
recommendation,  and  of  legislative  discussion.  Difference  of 
opinion  can  not  well  exist  as  to  the  advantages  to  society 
from  the  general  diffusion  of  education  throughout  the  com 
munity.  Indeed,  no  sentiment  is  more  generally  held  to  be 
incontrovertible,  among  enlightened  freemen,  than  that  mo 
rality  and  knowledge  are  necessary  to  good  government. 
The  necessary  dependence  which  civil  liberty  and  free  insti 
tutions  in  government  have  on  the  moral  qualities  and  intel 
ligence  of  the  people,  give  importance  to  the  provisions  for 
the  encouragement  and  support  of  common  schools.  An  in 
terest  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  society,  and  to  the 
future  respectability  of  the  State,  should  not  be  left  on  the  in 
secure  ground  of  the  force  of  moral  sentiment  in  each  mem 
ber  of  the  community,  for  its  regulation  and  protection. 
However  universal  the  agreement  in  sentiment  may  be,  as  to 
these  views  of  the  subject,  there  is  still  ground  for  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  the  measure  of  support  to  be  given,  and  the 
mode  in  which  it  shall  be  administered.  In  this  State  there 
are  causes,  extensive  in  their  nature,  for  difference  of  opinion 
on  the  subject.  The  population  is  composed  principally  of 
emigrants  from  the  different  States  of  the  Union,  with  habits 
and  modes  of  thinking  on  the  subject,  as  different  as  are  the 
regulations  of  the  States  from  whence  they  came.  It  will, 
then,  require  concessions  of  opinion,  and  the  abandonment 
of  early  prepossessions  to  be  made,  before  we  arrive  at  a 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JEREMIAH   MORROW,  133 

favorable  result.  The  systems  of  regulation  for  common 
schools,  which  have  been  adopted  in  the  several  States  where 
any  regulations  have  been  made,  may  be  reduced,  in  their 
essential  features,  to  two  classes.  The  mode  in  the  one,  is 
that  of  collecting  the  whole  means  for  the  purpose  into  a 
common  fund,  and  from  thence  distributing  to  the  several 
school  districts  throughout  the  State.  The  other  is  the  organ 
ization  of  the  particular  townships  or  districts  for  the  purpose, 
and  the  vesting  in  the  township  officers  the  power  to  provide 
for  the  support  and  regulation  of  schools  within  each  several 
township.  These  systems  have  each,  when  carried  into 
eifect,  been  found  efficient,  and  have,  perhaps,  equally  recom 
mended  themselves  by  their  salutary  effects.  The  latter  sys 
tem  is  unquestionably  the  most  simple,  and  least  expensive 
in  its  operation.  It  was  that  which  was  in  use  when  the  first 
reservations  of  lands  for  the  support  of  schools  were  made  by 
Congress,  and  appears  to  have  been  in  view,  by  the  terms  in 
which  they  were  made.  They  are  made  in  the  townships 
severally,  and  for  the  support  of  schools  within  the  same  spe 
cially.  This  circumstance  of  the  speciality  of  the  appropria 
tion  of  the  school  lands,  to  the  use  of  the  several  townships 
and  districts  within  a  large  portion  of  the  State,  wTould  appear 
to  recommend  that  system  as  the  best  adapted  to  the  situation 
of  the  State.  No  benefit,  it  is  believed,  commensurate  to  the 
expense  of  the  operation,  would  arise,  from  the  collection  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  school  lands  in  the  several  townships  and 
districts,  into  a  general  fund,  when  distribution  shall  be  made 
in  proportion  to  the  receipts  from  each.  The  act  of  the  22nd 
of  January,  1821,  ufor  the  regulation  and  support  of  com 
mon  schools,"  contains  the  general  features  of  a  system  cal 
culated  for  that  purpose.  But,  however  well  the  provisions 
may  be  adapted  to  the  purpose,  they  are  rendered  nugatory 
by  the  option  given  to  the  electors  in  the  several  townships, 
to  give  them  effect  or  not,  as  they  shall  by  their  votes  determ 
ine.  "Was  this  act  made  positive,  and  in  some  other  respects 
modified,  we  should  have  a  system  in  force — perhaps  not 
perfect — for  the  regulation  of  common  schools,  which  could 
be  further  improved,  as  experience  under  it  should  point  out 
its  defects." 

At  the  previous  session,  the  House  of  Representatives 
Adopted  the  draft  of  a  memorial  to  Congress,  but  which  was 
not  acted  upon  by  the  Senate,  asking  the  passage  of  a  law 
declaring  the  authority  of  the  State  of  Ohio  to  sell  the  school 
lands,  and  invest  the  proceeds  with  a  State  guarantee  of  an 


134:  ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEREMIAH    MORROW. 

income  of  six  per  cent,  upon  the  amount,  to  be  applied  to  the 
use  of  schools,  pursuant  to  the  original  grants.  At  the 
next  session,  however,  both  branches,  by  their  resolution  of 
February  26,  1824,  concurred  in  a  very  elaborate  memorial 
to  the  above  purport.  Although  many  of  the  statements  of 
this  document  have  been  anticipated,  yet  as  a  clear  review  of 
the  history  of  an  intricate  question,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  it  is  deemed  advisable  to  reproduce  it. 

"  The  memorial  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  General  Assembly, 
respectfully  represents,  That  by  the  act  of  the  Congress,  of 
the  United  States,  passed  the  thirtieth  day  of  April,  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  two,  the  following,  among 
other  propositions,  were  offered  to  the  Convention,  to  be 
assembled  for  the  formation  of  a  State  government  for  the 
people  of  the  eastern  division  of  the  territory  north-west  of  the 
Ohio,  including  the  State  of  Ohio  ;  that  is  to  say,  that  the  sec 
tion  number  sixteen  in  every  township,  and  where  such  section 
had  been  sold,  other  lands  equivalent  thereto,  should  be  granted 
to  the  inhabitants  of  such  township  for  the  use  of  schools. 

"  Secondly,  that  the  six  miles  reservation,  including!  the 
Salt  Springs,  commonly  called  the  Scioto  Salt  Springs,  the 
Salt  Spring  near  the  Muskingum  river,  and  in  the  Military 
Tract,  with  the  sections  of  land  which  include  the  same, 
should  be  granted  to  the  said  State,  for  the  use  of  the  people 
thereof:  Provided,  the  said  Legislature  should  never  sell, 
nor  lease  the  same  for  a  longer  period  than  ten  years. 

"  That  the  foregoing  propositions,  when  acted  upon  and 
considered  in  Convention  of  Ohio,  and  by  an  ordinance 
passed  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  November,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  two,  the  aforesaid  propositions 
were  accepted :  Provided,  That  the  following  modifications 
should  be  made  thereto,  that  is  to  say,  that  in  addition  to  the 
first  propositions  securing  the  section  number  sixteen  in 
every  township  within  certain  tracts  to  the  inhabitants  thereof, 
for  the  use  of  schools,  a  like  donation,  equal  to  the  one-thirty- 
sixth  part  of  the  amount  of  the  lands  in  the  United  States 
Military  Tract,  should  be  made  for  the  support  of  schools 
within  that  tract,  and  also,  that  the  like  provision  should  be 
made  for  the  support  of  schools  in  the  Virginia  Reservation, 
so  far  as  the  unlocated  lands  in  that  tract  would  supply  the 
proportion,  after  warrants  issued  from  said  State  should  have 
been  satisfied,  and  also,  that  a  donation  of  the  same  kind,  or 
such  provision  as  Congress  should  deem  expedient,  should  be 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEREMIAH   MORROW.  135 

made  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  and  that 
out  of  all  the  lands  which  might  thereafter  be  purchased  of 
the  Indian  tribes  by  the  United  States,  and  lying  within  the 
State  of  Ohio,  the  oue-thirty-sixth  part  should  be  given 
as  aforesaid,  for  the  support  of  public  schools,  and  that  all 
lands  before  mentioned,  to  be  appropriated  for  the  use  of 
schools,  should  be  vested  in  the  Legislature  of  said  State  of 
Ohio,  in  trust  for  said  purposes. 

"  That  a  certain  proportion  of  the  lands  lying  within  the 
State  of  Ohio,  had  already  been  disposed  of  by  the  United 
States,  and  by  patent,  dated  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  September, 
in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four, 
certain  lands  therein  described  were  granted  unto  John 
Cleves  Symmes,  reserving  to  the  United  States  out  of  each 
township  within  the  same,  lot  numbered  sixteen,  for  the  use 
of  schools,  being  one-thirty-sixth  part  of  the  whole  tract 
granted  as  aforesaid. 

"  That  a  certain  tract  had  also  been  granted  unto  Manassah 
Cutter,  and  others,  under  the  name  of  the  Ohio  Company,  in 
which,  lot  number  sixteen,  being  one-thirty-sixth  part,  was 
also  reserved  for  the  use  of  schools,  in  addition  to  which  are 
the  appropriations  for  the  Ohio  and  Miami  Universities,  but 
to  which  last  appropriations  to  the  Ohio  and  Miami  Univer 
sities,  your  memorialists  have  only  adverted,  as  not  being  in 
tended  to  be  embraced  in  the  prayer  of  the  memorial,  here 
with  submitted. 

"  That  the  ordinances  of  the  Convention  of  Ohio,  of 
November,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  two,  gave  rise  to 
the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  of  the  third  day 
of  March,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  three, 
by  which  it  was  enacted  more  specifically : 

"1.  That  certain  quarter  townships  in  the  tract  commonly 
called  the  United  States  Military  Tract,  and  in  said  act,  par 
ticularly  described,  amounting  to  the  one-thirty-sixth  part  of 
the  estimated  whole  amount  of  lands  within  that  tract. 

"  2.  That  certain  other  quarter  townships  in  the  same  United 
States  Military  Tract,  and  in  said  act  particularly  described 
for  the  use  of  the  tract  of  country  commonly  called  the  Con 
necticut  Reserve,  were  also  by  said  act  granted  or  reserved. 

"  3.  So  much  of  that  tract  within  this  State,  commonly 
called  the  Virginia  Military  Reservation,  as  would  amount  to 
one-thirty-sixth  part  of  the  whole  tract,  was  also  granted,  to 
be  selected  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  out  of  the 
unlocated  lands  in  that  tract,  after  the  warrants  issued  from 
the  State  of  Virginia  should  have  been  satisfied. 


136  ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEKEMIAH    MOJBROW. 

"4.  There  was  also  granted  and  secured  by  the  same  act, 
one-thirty-sixth  part  of  all  the  lands  of  the  United  Stah^, 
lying  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  which  the  Indian  title  had  not 
been  extinguished,  which  might  thereafter  be  purchased  of 
the  Indian  tribes,  by  the  United  States,  which  thirty-sixth 
part  should  consist  of  the  sections  number  sixteen,  in  each 
township,  the  specified  and  declared  object  of  the  aforesaid 
grants  and  reservations,  were  for  the  use  of  common  schools, 
within  the  several  districts  of  country  therein  specified,  and 
were,  as  your  memorialists  conceive,  granted  upon  full  con 
sideration  arising  from  the  increased  value  of  the  remaining 
lands  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and  also  from  the  relin- 
quishment,  on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  of  the  right  to 
tax  the  lands  of  the  United  States,  within  the  State  of  Ohio, 
until  five  years  after  the  sale  thereof;  and  that  it  was,  by  the 
aforesaid  act,  expressly  declared  that  the  several  appropria 
tions  for  schools  made  therein  were  in  conformity  with,  and 
in  consideration  of,  the  conditions  agreed  on  by  the  State  of 
Ohio,  by  the  ordinance  of  the  Convention  of  said  State,  bear 
ing  date  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  November,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  two,  and  hereinbefore  particu 
larly  referred  to. 

"That  your  memorialists  conceive  that  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  parties  to  the  compact  aforesaid,  that  one-thirty-sixth 
part  of  all  the  lands  within  the  State  of  Ohio  should  bo 
granted  to  the  people  thereof,  for  the  use  of  common  schools, 
and  should  be  placed  under  the  control  of  the  Legislature 
thereof;  and  that  this  construction  is  warranted  by  the  spirit, 
and  even  by  the  letter  of  the  different  acte  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  when  considered  in  relation  to  the  ordi 
nance  of  the  State  of  Ohio  above  referred  to,  and  to  which  a 
direct  reference  is  had  by  the  aforesaid  last  recited  act  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States. 

"That  when  it  was  afterward  ascertained  that  the  grant 
aforesaid,  in  relation  to  the  tract  of  country  commonly  called 
the  Virginia  Military  Reservation,  would  be  rendered  wholly 
inoperative,  in  consequence  of  the  limitation  and  condition 
thereunto  annexed,  by  reason  of  the  great  and  uncertain 
amount  of  warrants  which  had  been  issued  by  the  State  of 
Virginia,  together  with  the  extended  period  for  locating  the 
same,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  pursuance  of  the 
stipulations  of  the  compact  aforesaid,  by  the  act  passed  the 
second  day  of  March,  in  the  year  one  thousand  i-ight  hundred 
and  seven,  appropriated  eighteen  quarter  townships,  and 
three  sections,  as  are  in  said  act  described,  for  the  use  of 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEREMIAH   MORROW.  137 

schools  in  that  tract  of  land,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  commonly 
called  the  Virginia  Military  Keservation,  which  were,  by  the 
said  act,  also  vested  in  the  Legislature,  in  trust  for  the  use 
aforesaid. 

"That  at  the  period  when  the  act  aforesaid,  making  an  ap 
propriation  for  the  tract  commonly  called  the  Connecticut 
Eeserve,  was  passed,  the  Indian  title  had  been  extinguished 
to  that  part  only  which  lies  east  of  the  Cuyahoga  river,  and 
the  appropriation  was  made  only  in  relation  to  that  part 
to  which  the  Indian  title  had  been  extinguished,  and  con 
sisted  of  a  tract  equal  to  one-thirty-sixth  part  of  the  Reserve, 
to  which  the  Indian  title  had  been  so  extinguished ;  since 
which  time  the  Indian  title  to  that  part  of  the  Reserve  lying 
west  of  the  Cuyahoga  river  has  been  extinguished  by  the 
United  States,  for,  and  on  account  of  the  State  of  Connecti 
cut,  who  made  the  necessary  appropriations  for  that  purpose. 

"That,  as  your  memorialists  conceive,  it  was  in  conformity 
with  the  spirit  and  intention  of  the  compact  aforesaid,  and 
formed  a  material  item  of  the  consideration  which  induced 
the  State  of  Ohio  to  make  the  concessions  they  did  make 
under  that  compact,  that  they  should  receive,  in  return,  lands 
equal  to  one-thirty-sixth  part  of  all  the  lands  within  the  State 
of  Ohio,  to  be  appropriated  for  the  use  of  common  schools 
within  said  State. 

"The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  construing  the 
terms  and  spirit  of  the  compact  in  the  manner  above  set 
forth,  do  not  hesitate  to  represent  to  the  United  States  that 
when  the  Indian  title  was  extinguished  to  the  tract  of  coun 
try  lying  in  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  west  of  the  Cuyahoga, 
the  terms  aforesaid  required  of  the  United  States  that  a  law 
should  be  passed,  appropriating,  from  their  unlocated  lands 
within  the  State  of  Ohio,  a  tract  equal  to  one-thirty-sixth  part 
of  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  lying  west  of  the  Cuyahoga 
river,  and  that  they,  relying  on  the  justice  and  good  faith  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  confidently  anticipated 
the  passage  of  such  an  act,  in  aid  of  the  exertions  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  in  establishing  a  system  of  common  free 
schools  throughout  the  State. 

"  That  in  relation  to  the  lands  already  appropriated,  as  above 
described,  the  Legislature  of  the'  State  of  Ohio,  in  pursuance 
of  the  trust  aforesaid,  and  in  aid  of  the  great  and  important 
objects  contemplated,  have  resorted  to  various  methods  of 
rendering  them  productive,  and  in  particular,  that  of  leasing 
them  to  such  individuals  as  have  applied  therefor ;  that  expe 
rience,  however,  has  fully  demonstrated  that  this  fund  will  be 


138  ADMINISTRATION   OF   JEREMIAH    MORROW. 

wholly  unavailing  in  their  hands,  in  its  present  shape.  That, 
in  order  that  the  beneficial  and  laudable  objects  contemplated 
by  the  grants  aforesaid  may  be  secured  to  the  people  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  it  will,  as  your  memorialists  conceive,  be  neces 
sary  that  the  Legislature  should  possess  the  unlimited  con 
trol  over  the  lands  aforesaid,  with  the  power  of  disposing  of 
them  in  fee. 

"  The  objections  which  are  urged  against  the  present  mode 
of  administering  that  fund,  are,  in  the  first  place,  that  by 
reason  of  the  facilities  which  the  State  of  Ohio  affords  for 
acquiring  a  property  in  real  estate,  a  necessity  exists  of 
leasing  the  lands  in  question  to  persons  almost  wholly  des"- 
titute  of  pecuniary  means,  whereby  the  avails  of  those  lands 
are  rendered,  at  least,  uncertain ;  in  consequence,  also,  that, 
as  these  lands  are  detached  over  the  whole  State  of  Ohio,  the 
expense  which  must  necessarily  be  incurred  by  creating  a 
superintendence  over  them,  renders  them  much  less  produc 
tive  than  your  memorialists  conceive  they  might  be  rendered, 
if  the  lands  were  sold,  and  the  proceeds  concentrated  in  one 
fund. 

u  The  fact,  also,  before  adverted  to,  that  these  lands  must 
necessarily  be  entrusted  to  the  possession  of  those  of  the 
lowest  class  of  the  community,  and  who  possess  no 
permanent  interest  in  the  soil,  has  produced  a  waste  upon 
these  lands  of  their  timber,  and  otherwise,  equal,  perhaps,  to 
the  whole  revenue  which  may  have  been  derived  from  them. 
The  fact,  also,  that,  by  holding  them  under  the  present  tenure, 
your  memorialists  are  compelled  to  offer  upon  lease  so  great 
a  proportion  of  their  soil,  as  will  invite  and  retain  a  popula 
tion  within  her  boundaries,  of  a  character  not  to  be  desired, 
and  in  amount  so  great  as  to  create  an  evil  which  can  only 
be  conceived  of,  in  a  country  where  every  individual,  possess 
ing  a  very  moderate  portion  of  industry  and  economy,  may, 
within  a  single  year,  appropriate  to  himself,  in  fee,  a  quan 
tity  of  land  sufficient  to  furnish  means  of  support  for  an 
ordinary  family,  is  also  a  circumstance  which  your  memo 
rialists  conceive  is  not  undeserving  of  consideration. 

"  While  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  common  with  her  sister 
States,  shall  have  her  ordinary  proportion  of  idle  and  unprofit 
able  members,  this  'great  proportion  of  land,  which  must  be 
held  by  lease,  must  of  necessity  produce  a  corresponding 
ft  at ure  in  her  population.  Although  many  industrious  ami 
valuable  citizens  may  be  found  among  the  lessees  of  school 
lands,  yet  it  must  be*  admitted,  that  the  great  body  of  those 
who  constitute  the  strength  and  basis  of  every  government, 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JEREMIAH   MORROW.  139 

and  who  are  to  be  considered  as  the  friends  of  good  order  and 
public  improvement,  are  among  those  wTho  are  the  owners  as 
well  as  occupiers  of  the  soil.  Those  evils,  as  your  memorial 
ists  conceive,  arise  wholly  from  the  system  of  granting  these 
lands  upon  leases,  and  are  such  as  can  not  be  remedied  by 
any  course  of  legislation  whatever,  if,  as  some  have  supposed, 
the  State  have  not  the  power,  under  the  terms  of  the  original 
grant,  of  disposing  of  these  lands  in  fee.  Notwithstanding 
your  memorialists  may  be  of  opinion  that  they  already  pos 
sess  this  right ;  yet  so  long  as  the  question  shall  admit  of  any 
doubt,  it  must  of  necessity  have  the  effect  to  restrain  its  exer 
cise  :  it  is  true,  that  if  the  forms  of  proceedings  established 
by  States  as  the  rules  of  action  for  its  members,  shall  or  can, 
be  brought  to  operate  upon  the  States  themselves,  this  ques 
tion  might,  perhaps,  be  rendered  still  more  uncertain  ;  but 
your  memorialists  conceive  that  the  grants  aforesaid,  being 
made  to  the  people  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  through  the  medium 
of  the  Legislature  for  the  use  of  the  people,  that  no  limita 
tions  can  have  any  operation,  further  than  as  it  shall  furnish 
an  argument  against  diverting  this  fund  from  its  original  and 
legitimate  object.  The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Ohio  being 
in  all  respects  sovereign,  within  the  Constitution,  their 
capacity  to  do  any  and  every  act  in  relation  to  property 
which  its  citizens,  hold  in  common  is,  as  they  conceive, 
necessarily  implied,  nor  can  they  acknowledge  that  any  rule, 
other  than  the  Constitution,  can  operate  with  any  obligatory 
effect,  upon  the  power  which  has  created  the  rule  itself,  ex 
cept  upon  considerations  of  justice  and  policy  toward  those 
who  may  be  affected  by  their  acts.  It  may,  it  is  true,  be  said 
these  grants  partake  of  the  nature  of  a  compact  between  the 
United  States  and  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  that,  therefore,  they 
are  to  be  limited  to  their  particular  terms  in  relation  to  the 
State  of  Ohio.  It  is  admitted  that  the  grant  exists  in  conse 
quence  of  a  compact ;  but,  inasmuch  as  the  United  States 
have  received  a  full  and  valuable  consideration,  which 
formed  the  inducement  of  the  grant,  and  inasmuch  as 
they  have  not  reserved  to  themselves  any  beneficial  interest 
in  the  land  aforesaid,  or  possibility  of  reversion  or  any  title 
whatever ;  it  can  not  be  supposed  that  they  can  possess  any 
controlling  power.  It  may  be  urged,  also,  that  inasmuch  as 
there  has  been  no  method  pointed  out  in  respect  to  the 
manner  in  which  this  trust  should  be  executed,  the  Legis 
lature  of  the  State  of  Ohio  have  an  unlimited  discretion 
in  this  respect,  and  may  avail  themselves  of  every  possible 
method  of  producing  the  greatest  advantage  to  those  whom 


140  ADMINISTRATION   OF   JEREMIAH   MORROW. 

they  represent.  This  argument,  they  conceive,  is  powerfully 
supported  by  the  fact,  that  the  same  act  grants  to  the  State, 
as  well  as  the  school,  the  lands  in  question,  as  the  six  miles 
reservation,  including  the  Scioto  Salt  Springs  ;  in  respect  of 
which  latter  the  Legislature  are  expressly  restrained  from 
selling  the  same  or  leasing  them  for  a  longer  period  than  ten 
years  ;  and  that  the  inference  from  this  circumstance  is  direct, 
that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  parties  to  that  compact,  that 
no  such  restraint  should  exist  in  relation  to  the  other  landa 
which  did  not  come  within  this  provision.  While  your 
memorialists  have  been  thus  particular  in  endeavoring  to 
give  the  proper  definition  of  the  powers  they  possess,  in 
order  that  no  conclusions  may  hereafter  be  drawn  unfavor 
able  to  their  claim  from  having  made  this  application,  and 
have  thereby  perhaps  shown,  that,  in  a  particular  point  of 
view,  this  application  is  wholly  unnecessary,  they  are  of 
opinion  that  an  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
declaratory  of  the  extent  of  the  grants  aforesaid,  will  be  pro 
ductive  of  much  benefit,  in  case  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
should  hereafter  determine  to  dispose  of  the  same.  That  it 
will  have  the  full  effect  of  removing  every  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  the  purchasers,  and  thereby  enhance  the  price  which  will 
be  obtained  for  the  same. 

"Therefore,  your  memorialists  represent  that  it  would  be  of 
advantage,  and  conduce  to  the  future  prosperity  of  the  State 
of  Ohio,  that  a  law  of  the  United  States  be  passed,  declaring 
the  authority  of  the  State  of  Ohio  to  dispose  of  the  said 
lands  granted  for  the  use  of  schools  within  said  State,  in  fee  ; 
and  that  the  proceeds  thereof  be  invested  in  some  permanent 
fund,  the  proceeds  of  which  shall  be  applied  under  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Legislature  for  the  use  of  common  schools  within 
the  townships  or  districts  to  which  they  were  originally 
granted  in  said  State,  and  for  no  other  use  and  purpose  what 
ever  :  Provided,  That  the  sections  numbered  sixteen,  granted 
as  aforesaid  for  the  use  of  schools,  shall  not  be  sold  without 
the  consent  of  the  inhabitants  of  such  original  surveyed 
townships,  and  that  they  may  be  authorized  and  empowered 
to  sell  and  dispose  of  the  aforesaid  six  miles  reservation, 
including  the  Scioto  Salt  Springs,  the  Salt  Springs  near  Musk- 
ingum  river,  and  in 'the  Military  Tract,  with  the  sections 
of  land  which  include  the  same,  and  apply  the  proceeds 
thereof  to  such  literary  purposes  as  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Ohio  may  hereafter  direct. 

"Resolved  further,  That  the  Governor  be  requested  to 
forward  the  foregoing  memorial  to  the  Government  of  the 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEREMIAH  MORROW.  141 

United  States,  and  take  such  order  and  disposition  of  the 
funds  as  shall  seem  to  him  proper." 
February  26,  1824. 

The  twenty-third  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  1824^5, 
has  the  distinction  of  having  established  a  tax  of  one-half  a 
mill  for  school  purposes  in  the  respective  counties.  The  dis 
cussion  had  been  warm,  and  a  measure  for  supporting  free 
schools  by  taxation,  it  is  quite  probable,  only  prevailed  at  this 
time  because  the  friends  of  a  canal  system  could  not  other 
wise  obtain  the  co-operation  of  sections  of  the  State  not 
directly  interested  in  their  construction.  The  strongest 
friends  of  free  .schools  were  from  the  east  and  north-east, 
while  the  canal  interest  was  predominant  in  the  central  and 
western  districts.  Both  measures  have  since  become  promi 
nent  features  of  State  administration. 

Nathan  Guilford  deserves  the  honor  of  having  secured  the 
passage  of  the  act  of  February  5,  1825,  "  to  provide  for  the 
support  and  better  regulation  of  common  schools."  Former 
commissions  had  been  discordant  on  the  subject :  but  early 
in  the  session,  a  joint  committee  on  Governor  Morrow's 
recommendation  in  respect  to  schools,  had  been  appointed, 
consisting,  from  the  Senate,  of  Nathan  Guilford,  Robert 
Young,  Daniel  Harbaugh,  and  David  H.  Beardsley;  and* 
from  the  House,  of  James  "W.  Lathrop,  Homer  Hire,  George 
B.  Holt,  and  John  Colton ;  and  their  draft  of  a  bill  became 
a  law,  with  scarcely  a  verbal  alteration,  although  opposed 
with  great  bitterness.  The  bill  was  accompanied  by  a  report, 
both  being  understood  to  be  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  GUILFORD  ; 
most  of  the  report  was  occupied  with  a  review  of  the  legisla 
tion  and  condition  of  other  States.  One  paragraph  earnestly 
advocating  free  schools,  should  be  quoted  in  honor  of  its  author: 

"The  system  of  free  schools  has  always  been  found  the 
most  general  and  efficacious  in  its  eifects.  It  extends  the 
means  of  common  education  to  the  door  of  every  man,  and 
among  all  ranks  and  conditions.  It  is  particularly  favorable 
to  the  education  of  youth  in  the  country,  where  the  population 
is  scattered  and  difficult  to  be  united  without  some  general 
system  for  the  purpose.  In  towns,  cities,  and  villages, 


14:2  ADMINISTRATION   OF  JEREMIAH   MORROW. 

schools  always  exist,  and  when  left  to  itself,  education  is 
always  much  better  attended  to  in  these  places  than  in  the 
country.  Nothing  but  free  schools  has  ever  succeeded  in 
diffusing  education  among  the  mass  of  the  people  who  culti 
vate,  the  soil.  This  system  scatters  schools  in  every  neigh 
borhood,  is  within  the  reach  of  every  farmer,  and  freely  offers 
to  the  poor  tenants  of  every  cabin  the  means  of  instruction. 
The  yeomanry  of  every  country  constitute  its  sinews  and 
strength  ;  and  it  is  among  them  that  those  wholesome,  honest, 
and  home-bred  principles  are  preserved,  which  constitute  the 
safety  and  honor  of  a  nation.  How  doubly  important  is 
it,  then,  that  they  should  be  well  informed  !  In  New  England, 
where  this  system  has  prevailed  ever  since  the  first  settle 
ment  of  the  country,  it  is  extremely  rare  to  meet  with  a 
person  of  either  sex  who  can  not  read  and  write.  A  taste  for 
reading,  and  ft  desire  for  further  information  is  thus  created  ; 
and  in  almost  every  town  and  village,  a  respectable  circulating 
library  is  to  be  found.  These  common  schools  are  the  nurse 
ries  of  the  academies  and  classical  seminaries  which  exist  in 
almost  every  populous  county,  and  which  are  the  natural 
consequence  of  the  common  schools." 

The  act  of  February  5,  1825,  was  as  follows: 

"Whereas,  it  is  provided  by  the  Constitution1  of  this  State, 
that  schools,  and  the  means  of  instruction,  shall  forever  be 
encouraged  by  legislative  provision.  Therefore, 

u  SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
.the  State  of  Ohio,  That  a  fund  shall  hereafter  be  annually 
raised  among  the  several  counties  in  this  State,  in  the  manner 
pointed  out  by  this  act,  for  the  use  of  common  schools,  for 
the  instruction  of  youth  of  every  class  and  grade,  without 
distinction,  in  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  other  neces 
sary  branches  of  a  common  education. 

"SEC.  2.  That  the  Commissioners  of  the  several  counties  in 
this  State,  at  their  appointed  meeting,  in  June,  eighteen  hund 
red  and  twenty-six,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  per 
centum  to  be  levied  upon  the  general  list,  or  grand  levy,  in 
their  respective  counties ;  and  at  every  such  annual  meeting 
thereafter,  shall  levy  and  assess  upon  the  ad  valorem  amount 
of  said  general  list,  one-twentieth  of  one  per  centum,  or  one- 
half  of  a  mill  upon  the  dollar,  to  be  appropriated  for  the  use 
of  common  schools  in  their  respective  counties,  in  the  man 
ner  hereinafter  provided ;  which  said  assessment  shall  be 
apportioned  among  the  several  townships,  h-viol  and  col 
lected  in  the  same  manner  as  all  other  taxes  for  county  and 
State  purposes,  and  paid  into  the  county  treasury. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEREMIAH   MORROW.  143 

"SEC.  3.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  Auditor, 
immediately  after  his  annual  settlement  with  the  county  Col 
lector,  to  make  out,  and  deliver  to  the  Treasurer  of  said 
county,  a  certificate  of  the  amount  collected  for  the  use  of 
schools,  upon  the  duplicate  of  each  township ;  and  also  to 
open  an  account  in  a  book,  to  be  by  him  kept  for  that  pur 
pose,  with  each  of  said  townships,  in  which  each  township 
shall  be  credited  with  the  amount  collected  as  aforesaid,  upon 
its  duplicate  for  the  use  of  schools.  And  the  amount  so  col 
lected,  in  each  township,  shall  remain  in  the  county  treasury 
for  the  use  of  the  schools  in  such  township. 

"SEC.  4.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Trustees  of  each 
incorporated  towTnship  in  this  State,  to  lay  off  the  same  into 
one  or  more  school  districts,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall 
think  most  suitable  and  convenient  for  the  population,  and 
different  neighborhoods  of  the  township,  always  paying  a  duo 
regard,  in  forming  such  districts,  to  any  school-house  already 
erected,  or  district  already  formed,  and  to  any  incorporated 
school  company,  and  to  schools  in  villages  or  populous  towns. 

"  SEC.  5.  That  when  two  or  more  townships  adjoin,  and 
the  line  of  such  townships  divide  a  population  which  can 
most  conveniently  be  formed  into  a  school  district,  it  shall, 
and  may  be  lawful  for  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  of  each  of 
the  townships  so  adjoining,  to  meet  and  lay  off  such  school 
district  in  such  manner  as  will  best  suit  the  population  of 
their  respective  townships.  And  each  township  from  which 
such  district  is  formed,  shall  contribute  toward  the  support  of 
schools  therein,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  families  be 
longing  to  the  parts  of  said  township  included  in  such  dis 
trict. 

"  SEC.  6.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Trustees,  imme 
diately  after  laying  off,  and  forming  or  altering  any  such  dis 
trict  in  their  respective  townships,  to  describe  and  number 
the  same,  and  to  deliver  the  number  and  description  thereof, 
in  writing,  to  the  clerk  of  the  township,  wrho  shall  record  the 
same  in  the  township  records :  and  when  a  district  shall  be 
formed  out  of  two  or  more  adjoining  townships,  or  shall  be 
altered,  a  description  of  a  part  thereof  in  each  township,  or 
any  such  alteration  shall  in  like  manner  be  delivered  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  several  townships  to  the  clerks  of  their 
respective  townships,  to  be  by  them  recorded  as  aforesaid ; 
and  it  shall  be  the  further  duty  of  said  Trustees  to  take,  or 
cause  to  be  taken,  a  list  or  enumeration  in  writing,  of  all  the 
householders  residing  in  each  of  said  districts,  and  to  deliver 
the  same  to  the  township  Clerk,  who  shall  record  the  same ; 


144  ADMINISTRATION   OF  JEREMIAH   MORROW. 

and  said  Trustees  shall  have  power  to  correct  said  list,  by 
taking  a  new  enumeration,  or  inserting  therein  any  changes 
which  shall  increase  or  decrease  the  number  of  household  i TS, 
in  said  district,  from  time  to  time,  when  they  shall  think 
proper. 

"  SEC.  7.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  township  Clerks, 
as  soon  as  they  shall  have  recorded  the  same,  to  deliver  to 
the  county  Auditor  the  number  and  description  of  each 
school  district,  and  part  of  district,  in  their  respective  town 
ships,  and,  also,  the  list  or  enumeration  of  the  householders 
residing  in  each,  and  all  alterations  which  shall  from  time  to 
time  be  made. 

"  SEC.  8.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  Auditor 
to  receive  and  file  in  his  office  the  description  and  number 
of  all  such  districts,  with  the  name  of  the  householders  in 
each ;  also,  all  alterations  which  shall  from  time  to  time  be 
returned  to  him  as  aforesaid. 

".  SEC.  9.  That  whenever  any  school  district  shall  be  formed 
as  aforesaid,  any  one  or  more  inhabitants  of  such  district 
may  call  a  district  meeting,  by  notifying  all  the  householders 
residing  within  said  district,  of  the  time  and  place  of  holding 
such  meeting.  And  the  howseliolders,  or  inhabitants,  of  such 
district  shall  assemble  together,  in  pursuance  of  such  notice, 
and  when  so  assembled  in  district  meeting,  if  one-third  of  all 
the  householders  of  said  district  be  present,  shall  be  a  legal 
meeting,  for  the  transaction  of  business,  with  power  to 
adjourn  from  time  to  time.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said 
meeting  to  organize  and  to  choose  a  clerk,  who  shall  keep  a 
record  of  their  proceedings :  they  shall  then  proceed  to  elect 
three  school  Directors,  to  manage  the  concerns  of  said  dis 
trict,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  one  year,  and  until  their 
successors  are  chosen :  the  said  district  meeting  shall  also 
have  power  to  designate  and  determine  upon  the  site  of  a 
school-house,  and  to  provide  the  means  of  building  the  same  ; 
also,  to  provide  the  necessary  funds,  and  to  do  all  other  things 
necessary  for  organizing  a  school  in  said  district. 

"Sfic.  10.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  school  Direct 
ors  to  employ  a  teacher,  and  to  manage  and  superintend  tho 
concerns  of  said  school ;  it  shall  also  be  their  duty,  when 
necessary,  to  call  district  meetings,  by  giving  due  notice 
thereof  to  the  householders  of  said,  district ;  they  shall  also 
receive  and  faithfully  expend  all  funds,  subscriptions,  dona 
tions,  or  dividends  of  school  funds;  and  they,  or  any  two  of 
them,  may  make  any  lawful  agreement  I'm-  such  purpose,  or 
maintain  any  action  at  law,  to  recover  any  money  due  said 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JEREMIAH   MORKOW.  145 

district,  or  any  damage  done  to  the  property  belonging  to  the 
same. 

"  SEC.  11.  That  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  each  county 
shall  annually  appoint  three  suitable  persons,  to  be  called 
Examiners  of  Common  Schools,  to  serve  for  the  term  of  one 
year,  and  until  their  successors  shall  be  appointed,  and  fill 
any  vacancy  which  may  happen,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
examine  every  person  wishing  to  be  employed  as  a  teacher ; 
and  if  they  find  such  person  qualified  and  of  good  moral 
character,  to  give  a  certificate  to  that  effect ;  and  any  one  or 
more  of  said  Examiners  may  visit  the  schools  in  the  county, 
and  examine  the  same,  and  give  such  advice  relative  to 
discipline,  mode  of  instruction,  and  management  of  said 
schools,  as  they  may  think  beneficial. 

"SEC.  12.  That  no  person  shall  be  allowed  to  teach  any 
district  school  until  such  person  be  examined  and  approved 
by  one  or  more  of  the  Examiners  of  Common  Schools,  and 
receive  a  certificate  of  approbation  from  said  Examiner  o 
Examiners ;  and  no  teacher  of  any  district  school,  who  shall 
not  have  obtained  such  certificate,  shall  recover  at  law  any 
wages  or  compensation  for  teaching  such  school. 

"SEC.  13.  That  the  Trustees  of  each  and  every  original 
surveyed  township  in  this  State,  wherein  there  is  the  reserved 
section  number  sixteen  for  the  use  of  schools,  or  to  which 
township  any  such  section,  or  other  lands  in  lieu  thereof,  apper 
tains,  shall  pay  over  to  the  school  Directors  of  the  several  school 
districts,  and  parts  of  districts,  within  their  respective  town 
ships,  a  dividend  of  all  rents  or  monies  received  on  account 
of  said  section,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  families  in 
each  district  or  part  of  district. 

U<SEC.  14.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  school  Directors 
to  pay  the  wages  of  the  teachers,  who  shall  have  been  by 
them  employed,  out  of  any  money  which  shall  come  into 
their  hands,  from  the  revenues  arising  from  donations  made 
by  Congress  for  the  support  of  schools,  or  otherwise,  so  far  as 
such  money  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  purpose ;  and  for  the 
residue  of  the  wages  of  any  such  teacher,  the  said  school 
Directors  shall  give  to  such  teacher  a  certificate,  particularly 
stating  the  length  of  time  which  said  teacher  has  been  em 
ployed  in  teaching  the  school  of  said  district,  and  the  amount 
or  balance  due  him  on  account  of  wages  thereof.  And  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  Auditor,  upon  the  presentment 
of  any  such  certificate,  to  draw  an  order  upon  the  county 
Treasurer  in  favor  of  such  teacher,  in  payment  of  the  amount 
so  certified  to  be  due,  out  of  the  dividend  belonging  to  such 


14:6  ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEREMIAH   MORROW. 

district,  provided  such  order  shall  not  exceed  the  amount  of 
said  dividend  ;  which  said  dividend  shall  be  struck  and  appor 
tioned  by  said  county  Auditor,  among  the  several  districts  of 
said  township,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  families  in  each. 
;;SEC.  15.  That  no  township  shall  be  entitled  to  receive 
any  part  of  the  moneys  collected  for  school  purposes,  until  the 
same  shall  be  laid  oft'  into  districts,  and  a  list  of  the  house 
holders  in  each  district  taken  and  delivered  to  the  county 
Auditor  as  provided  by  this  act  ;  and  no  school  district  shall 
be  entitled  to  receive  its  dividend  of  the  money  so  collected, 
except  in  payment  of  the  wages  of  a  teacher  duly  employed 
and  certified,  as  provided  by  this  act  ;  and  if  the  Trustees  of 
any  township  shall  not,  within  five  years  from  the  passage 
of  this  act,  lay  oft'  the  same  into  one  or  more  districts,  and 
take  a  list  of  the  householders  as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  county  Auditor  to  divide  and  apportion  all  the 
moneys  collected  upon  the  duplicate  of  taxes  from  such  town 
ship  among  the  other  townships  of  the  county,  which  shall 
have  been  laid  oif  into  districts  according  to  the  number  of 
families  in  each  ;  and  if  any  school  district  in  any  township 
which  may  be  laid  off  according  to  this  act,  shall  neglect 
to  employ  a  teacher  and  to  keep  a  school  therein  at  any  one 
time  for  the  space  of  three  years,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
county  Auditor  to  divide  and  apportion  the  dividend  among 
the  other  districts  in  said  township  which  shall  employ 
teachers,  and  keep  schools,  according  to  the  number  of 
families  in  each. 

M.  T.  WILLIAMS, 
Speaks  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

February  5,  1325. 


Governor  Morrow  congratulated  the  General  Assembly, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  twenty  -fourth  session,  upon  the 
legislation  of  the  preceding  winter,  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  The  state  of  education,  and  means  for  mental  improve 
ment  among  us,  can  not  be  viewed  with  the  same  satisfaction 
as  that  of  the  other  important  interests  of  our  country. 
Measures  for  improvement  in  this  regard  have  been  a 
standing  theme  of  executive  communication*  ever  since  the 
commencement  of  our  government.  Much  has  been  said, 
and  nothing  effectually  done,  until  at  tin-  last  session  of  the 
General  Assembly.  Then,  the  incipient  steps  were  wisely 
taken  for  the  introduction  of  a  system  of  common  schools. 
'  the  institutions  then  authorized,  if  duly  supported 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JEREMIAH   MOKROW.  147 

and  cherished  by  the  Legislature,  the  most  beneficial  effects 
to  society  must  result.  The  necessity  of  such  support  is 
obvious ;  because  it  is  a  palpable  fact,  that  science  and 
intellectual  improvement  have  fallen  far  behind,  in  their 
pace,  the  progress  of  population,  wealth,  and  general  im 
provements,  on  the  face  of  the  country ;  and  equally  unques 
tionable  that  the  cultivation  of  these  are  essential  to  the  well- 
being  of  society.  No  interest,  it  is  believed,  confided  to  the 
Legislature  is  of  more  importance  than  this,  whether  we 
regard  it  in  its  influence  on  human  happiness,  or  on  the  per 
manency  of  our  republican  system." 

In  his  last  message  to  the  Legislature,  December  6,  1826, 
Governor  Morrow  again  referred  to  the  school  question,  as 
follows : 

"  It  is  conceived  that,  on  an  investigation,  such  as  is  pro 
posed,  into  the  public  concerns,  and  on  a  view  of  the  state  of 
society  at  present,  it  will  be  found  that  the  situation  of  this 
State  is  in  many  respects  peculiar,  and  be  discovered  that  the 
present  period  forms  an  interesting  crisis  in  her  destinies. 
The  State  has  grown  up  almost  to  maturity,  with  a  rapidity 
unexampled ;  her  population  is  composed  principally  of 
emigrants  from  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  with  the 
share  of  education  common  to  the  several  States  from  whence 
they  came :  they  have  brought  with  them  habits,  manners, 
customs,  peculiar  to  the  countries  of  their  nativity  and  former 
residence,  and  which,  for  want  of  general  intercourse,  and 
a  common  system  of  education,  remain  fixed  and  unassimi- 
lated.  With  that  tide  of  emigration  wThich  so  copiously 
flowed,  were  had  a  full  supply  of  those  qualified  for  the 
liberal  professions.  We  have  heretofore  had  the  advantages 
of  all  the  provisions  made  for  education  in  the  original 
States  ;  but  now,  from  the  comparative  density  of  population, 
and  the  wider  range  of  settlement  toward  an  extended 
frontier,  that  flow  of  emigration  has  ceased.  The  society  is 
placed  on  its  own  ground,  with  its  own  means  to  cultivate 
native  resources,  physical,  mental,  and  moral.  The  inquiry 
is  interesting — are  we  prepared,  from  the  present  state  of  the 
public  institutions  of  learning,  to  become  independent  in 
that  respect  of  the  older  States  in  the  Union  ?  And  is  the 
present  state  of  common  school  education  such  as  to  warrant 
the  belief,  that  we  shall  establish  and  sustain  a  character  to 
society  of  being  respectable,  moral,  and  intelligent?  Or 
must  we,  in  the  neglect  of  improving  our  own  means,  supply 
the  defect  by  a  dependence  on  others. 


148  ADMINISTRATION    OF   JEREMIAH    MORROW. 

u  To  remedy  the  evils,  and  avert  the  consequences,  which 
must  result  from  the  present  state  of  things,  if  they  are  not 
misconceived,  will  require  a  liberal  spirit  of  enterprize  and 
united  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  community,  as  well  as 
energy,  with  an  enlightened  zeal,  on  the  part  of  the  Legisla 
ture.  It  is  true  that  much  has  been  done  for  general  educa 
tion,  by  the  law  for  the  regulation  of  common  schools  ;  that 
system,  however,  is  defective,  and  the  hope  can  scarcely  be 
indulged  that,  with  its  present  provisions,  it  can  be  brought 
into  general  use.  It  contains  not  sufficiently  the  principle 
of  either  compulsion  or  inducement,  to  insure  its  general 
operation  ;  and  experience  has  shown,  that  without  one  or  the 
other  of  these,  the  chance  of  its  being  carried  into  effect,  is,  in 
the  inverse  ratio  to  the  necessity  of  its  use.  Should  this 
system  be  improved  by  more  perfect  provisions,  and  the 
fostering  care  of  the  Legislature  be  extended  to  our  semin 
aries  of  learning,  giving  them  support  as  they  shall  have 
means ;  and  the  plans  for  internal  commercial  intercourse, 
which  are  now  in  successful  progress,  be  steadily  persisted 
in,  the  flattering  prospect  is  presented,  and  the  hope  may  be 
indulged,  that  this  State  will  rise  to  the  exalted  station,  and 
continue  to  sustain  that  rank  among  the  other  States  of  the 
American  Union,  which  by  extent  of  territory,  exuberance  of 
soil,  and  salubrity  of  climate,  she  is  entitled  to  hold,  and  that 
our  country  will  soon  become  the  seat  of  useful  knowledge, 
where  the  arts  and  sciences  will  be  firmly  planted,  and  that 
in  it  will  be  found  whatever  can  exalt  and  adorn  society,  and 
administer  to  the  real  happiness  of  man." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ADMINISTRATION   OF    ALLEN   TRIMBLE.— 1826-30. 

GOVERNOR  TRIMBLE  was  inaugurated  on  the  19th  of  De 
cember,  1826,  and  in  the  address  delivered  on  that  occasion 
remarked  as  follows : 

"  Education  is  of  such  vital  importance  in  its  effects  upon 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ALLEN   TRIMBLE.  149 

all  the  various  relations  of  society,  that  it  may  justly  be 
ranked  among  those  subjects  which  should  first  claim  the 
attention  of  a  free  and  enlightened  people.  The  diffusion  of 
useful  knowledge,  is  a  theme  on  which  the  philanthropist, 
statesman,  and  divine,  have  long  dwelt  with  enthusiasm. 
And  to  afford  to  youth  the  means  of  instruction,  and  to 
facilitate  their  march  in  pursuit  of  useful  knowledge,  has 
been  the  anxious  care  of  the  wise  and  good  in  every  age  and 
country ;  nor  can  the  political  condition  of  that  country  long 
continue  prosperous  and  happy,  where  the  progress  of  intel 
lectual  and  moral  improvement  is  not  commensurate  with  the 
development  of  its  resources  of  wealth  and  power.  The 
framers  of  our  Constitution,  in  penning  the  charter  of  our 
rights,  were  not  unmindful  of  the  great  importance  of  uni 
versal  education,  in  a  Government  deriving  all  its  powers 
from  the  people,  nor  of  their  duty  to  posterity,  when  in  strong 
and  imperative  language,  they  required  'that  schools,  and 
the  means  of  instruction  shall  forever  be  encouraged  by 
legislative  provision.'  The  different  executive  officers  of  the 
State,  impressed  with  similar  views,  have  not  failed  to  recom 
mend  the  subject  to  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature ;  yet, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  subject  was  not  acted  upon  until 
the  year  1821,  when,  by  virtue  of  a  resolution  of  the  General 
Assembly,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  report  a  system  for 
the  establishment  of  common  schools,  though  no  effectual 
measures  were  adopted  to  complete  the  system  of  education, 
until  the  session  of  1824-5.  To  what  extent  the  law  has 
been  carried  into  effect,  and  the  estimation  in  which  it  is  held 
by  the  people,  must  be  best  understood  by  their  representa 
tives  ;  it  is  fair  however,  to  conclude,  that  an  enlightened 
community,  appreciating  the  value  of  knowledge,  virtue,  and 
morality,  will  approve  a  measure,  upon  the  success  of  which, 
more  than  any  other,  depends  the  future  fame  and  happiness 
of  their  country.  The  system  is  now  in  its  infancy,  but  if 
approved  by  the  people,  and  cherished  by  their  representa 
tives,  it  will  prosper,  and  insure  a  general  diffusion  of 
useful  knowledge  throughout  the  various  classes  of  society ; 
and  many  of  our  indigent  youth,  who  would  otherwise  be 
deprived  of  a  participation  in  the  means  of  instruction,  will 
be  reclaimed  from  ignorance,  folly,  and  vice,  and  become 
useful  members,  and  many  of  them  ornaments,  of  society. 
Then  may  we  indulge  the  animating  hope,  that  general  intel 
ligence,  virtue,  and  morality,  will  be  the  characteristics  of 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  Ohio.  No  wise  Government 
should  afford  the  means  of  instruction  to  a  few,  in  exclusion 


150  ADMINISTRATION   OF   ALLEN   TRIMBLE. 

of  the  many ;    but  should   extend  a  liberal  and  equitable 
patronage,  shedding  its  benign  and  salutary  influence  through 
the  medium  of  common  schools,  in  which  all  may  participate, 
and  with  a  fostering  and  parental  care,  endow  liberally  its 
colleges  and  universities,  where   learning  may  pursue   her 
march,  and  unfold  to  her  sons  those  sublime  lights  and  im 
mortal  treasures  which  science  alone  can  boast.     The  policy 
heretofore  pursued  by  the   State,  has   been   to  commit  the 
highest  branches  exclusively  to  the  patronage  of  that  part  of 
the  community  who  have  felt  the  greatest  interest  in  its  suc 
cess.     But  however  munificent  or  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
literature,  few  of  our  citizens  have  been  successful  in  raising 
funds  to  endow,  even  moderately,  their  favorite  institutions. 
The  Ohio  and  Miami  Universities,  endowed  by  grants  of  land 
from  the  General  Government,  from  the  proceeds  of  their 
domain,  have  supported  reputable  schools ;  and  it  is  gratifying 
to  learn,  that  they,  with  a  few  other  seminaries,  are  enabled 
to  extend  their  usefulness  to  the  community.     Yet  it  is  a 
melancholy  fact,  that  many  of  our  young  men  have  been, 
and  now  are,  abroad,  for  want  of  the  adequate  means  of 
instruction  at  home ;  the  consequence  of  which  is  a  constant 
drain  upon  the  resources  of  the  State,  of  a  large  amount 
annually ;    which,   if  judiciously  applied,  would  contribute 
salutary  aid  to  some  one  of  our  home  institutions,  and  enable 
the  parent  who  sends  one  son  abroad,  to  educate  at  least  two 
at  home.     Xor  is  this  the  only  evil — our  young  men,  by 
resorting  to  colleges  in  or  near  to   populous  cities  of  the 
Atlantic  States,  to  pursue  their  studies,  may,  and  frequently 
do,  suffer  losses  more  to  be  regretted,  and  much  more  fatal 
to  themselves  and  their  country,  than  the  sacrifice  of  fortune. 
"  The  youth  of  our  State,  generally,  partake  of  those  habits 
of  temperance,  industry,  and  economy,   and  have  imbibed 
those  principles  of  virtue  and  morality,  which  characterize 
the  great  mass  of  our  population.     To  place  them  in  large 
cities,  free  from  the  guidance  of  their  parents  or  guardians, 
where  the  allurements  of  pleasure,  vice  and  folly   are  pre 
sented  in  their  most  fascinating  forms,  is  a  test  too  severe  for 
youthful   minds.     There   are  some,   whose   experience   and 
fortitude  may  preserve  them  from  danger ;  but  may  we  not 
fear  that  there  are  many  who  fall  victims  to  dissipated  habits 
and  vicious  principles  3     And  such  is  the  high  estimate  set 
on  whatsoever  is  of  foreign  growth,  or  acquired  from  abroad, 
that  it  is  to  be  feared  that,  on  the  return  of  our  ymmg  friends, 
even  their  vices   and   profligate  habits,  with  the   gloss  of 
an  eastern  polish,  will  be  considered  by  our  unsuspecting 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ALLEN   TKIMBLE.  151 

youth,  as  accomplishments  essential  to  the  gentleman  and 
scholar.  If  then,  by  sending  them  abroad,  the  sacrifice  of 
wealth  is  certain,  and  the  danger  great,  of  demoralizing  our 
most  promising  sons,  and  disappointing  the  brightest  hopes 
of  their  friends  and  their  country,  the  duty  of  providing  for 
their  education  at  home  becomes  imperative." 

The  legislation  at  the  twenty-fifth  session  was  of  much 
practical  importance.  Congress  had  not  responded  in  accord 
ance  with  the  legislative  memorial,  asking  a  declaration  in 
favor  of  the  construction  that  the  State  might  sell,  instead  of 
lease,  section  sixteen ;  but  on  the  29th  of  January,  1827,  an 
act  passed  the  Legislature  to  that  effect.  It  directed  the 
county  Assessors  to  record  the  votes  in  the  original  surveyed 
townships,  for  and  against  a  sale,  and  deliver  the  book  con 
taining  the  votes,  to  the  county  Auditor,  who  might  receive 
legal  votes  until  the  third  Tuesday  of  October  following  said 
April  canvass  of  the  townships.  The  county  Auditor  and 
two  associate  Justices  were  made  triers  of  any  contest  as  to 
the  right  to  vote  on  such  proposition  of  sale ;  and  even  if  the 
first  decision  by  a  township  was  adverse,  still,  on  the  petition 
of  twelve  white  male  inhabitants,  of  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  (there  being  twenty  or  more  such  residents  in  a  town 
ship)  the  county  Auditor  might  direct  a  further  canvass  on 
the  subject.  He  was  required  to  certify  such  proceedings  to 
the  Auditor  of  State. 

It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  Auditor  of  State  to  report  to 
the  Legislature  annually,  on  the  first  Monday  of  December, 
a  statement  of  the  votes  given  in  every  such  township,  or 
fractional  part  thereof,  for  and  against  a  sale  of  section  six 
teen,  or  any  part  thereof,  belonging  to  the  same,  and  also  a 
summary  statement  of  the  valuation  of  such  lands  by  the  as 
sessors.  It  was  then  provided,  that  they  should  be  offered 
for  sale,  in  such  year  as  the  Legislature  might  direct  by  joint 
resolution,  or  otherwise,  by  the  county  Auditor,  under  the 
direction  of  the  State  Auditor.  The  premises  were  to  be  ap 
praised,  and  could  not  be  sold  below  the  appraisement ;  but 
the  title  would  be  in  fee  simple,  to  be  conveyed  by  the 


152  ADMINISTRATION    OF    ALLEN   TRIMBLE. 

Governor  when  four  payments  of  equal  amount,  one  at  the 
sale  and  three  deferred,  were  completed.  A  certificate  of 
sale  issued  first,  and  finally  a  deed,  under  the  seal  of  the  State. 
Of  course,  if  the  conditions  of  sale  were  not  complied  with, 
the  premises  were  forfeited,  and  might  be  re-offered.  The  pro 
ceeds  of  sales  were  to  be  first  received  by  the  county  Treasurer, 
but  were  required,  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  of  January,  in 
each  year,  to  be  paid  into  the  State  Treasury.  The  usual 
directions  for  notices  of  sale  and  officers'  fees  were  added. 

Two  sections  of  the  act,  providing  for  the  disposition  of 
outstanding,  permanent  leases,  were  in  the  following  terms : 

"SECTION  6.  That  in  all  cases  where  the  county  Auditor 
shall  be  instructed  by  the  Auditor  of  State,  as  hereinbefore 
provided,  to  sell  any  of  the  sections  sixteen,  or  fractional  parts 
thereof,  or  other  sections  in  lieu  thereof,  whereof  leases  may 
have  been  heretofore  granted  for  ninety  years,  or  for  any 
other  number  of  years,  and  renewable  forever,  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  the  lessee  thereof,  or  other  person  or  persons  being 
the  lawful  assignee  or  assignees,  or  owner  or  owners  of  such 
lease,  to  return  such  lease  to  the  county  Auditor  of  the 
proper  county,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  Auditor  to  en 
dorse  on  the  back  of  such  lease,  that  the  lessee,  or  the  owner 
or  owners  thereof,  does  release  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  trust, 
for  the  use  of  the  township  to  which  the  land  belongs,  all  the 
right,  title,  interest  and  estate,  which  was  originally  granted 
by  such  lease ;  which  said  endorsement  shall  be  signed  and 
sealed  by  the  lessee,  or  the  owner  or  owners  thereof,  in  the 
presence  of  said  Auditor,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  enter  in  a 
book,  to  be  by  him  provided  for  that  purpose,  the  date  of 
such  lease,  the  name  of  the  original  lessee,  the  name  of  the 
owner  or  owners  who  surrendered  the  same,  the  range, 
township,  section,  quarter  section,  or  part  thereof,  the  num 
ber  of  acres  or  other  smaller  quantity  specified  in  such  lease, 
the  rate  per  acre,  or  value  of  the  smaller  quantity,  at  which 
the  land  was  appraised  prior  to  granting  the  same,  and  if 
such  lease  has  been  recorded,  the  number  of  the  book  and 
page  in  which  the  same  may  be  found,  and  also  the  date 
when  such  lease  was  surrendered :  Provided,  That  where 
any  such  leased  land  shall  have  been  re-appraised  after  any 
such  lease  shall  have  been  granted,  according  to  any  special 
law  for  that  purpose,  the  appraisement  last  made  shall  bo 
deemed  and  taken  as  the  true  value  of  such  land,  to  all 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   ALLEN   TRIMBLE.  153 

intents  and  purposes  as  if  the  same  had  been  inserted  in  such 
lease. 

"SEC.  7.  That  on  the  surrendering  any  permanent  lease  as 
aforesaid,  such  lessee,  or  the  owner  or  owners  of  such  lease, 
as  the  case  may  be,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  from  such 
county  Auditor  a  certificate  of  purchase  for  the  land  con 
tained  in  such  lease,  by  paying  therefor  the  appraised  value 
of  said  land,  as  herein  before  specified,  together  with  all 
rents  which  may  be  due  upon  such  lease,  up  to  the  time  of 
surrendering  the  same,  if  any  such  rent  be  unpaid,  in  man 
ner  following,  namely :  all  the  rent  due  as  aforesaid  (if  any) 
except  as  herein  after  excepted,  together  with  one-eighth  part 
of  the  appraised  value  of  the  land  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  paid 
at  the  time  of  such  surrender;  and  the  residue  of  such  ap 
praised  value  shall  be  divided  into  seven  equal  instalments, 
one  of  which  said  instalments,  together  with  interest  at  six  per 
cent,  on  the  whole  amount  of  such  appraised  value  remaining 
unpaid,  shall  be  paid  annually,  from  and  after  the  date  of  the 
surrender  of  such  lease,  until  the  whole  be  paid." 

An  act  supplementary  to  the  school  act  of  1825,  created 
the  office  of  school  district  Treasurer,  and  defined  his  duties ; 
authorized  the  School  Directors  to  levy  a  special  tax  for 
building  or  repairing  a  school-house,  not  exceeding  $300, 
provided  three-fifths  of  the  householders  present  at  a  meeting, 
called  according  to  the  act  by  the  Directors,  should  agree 
thereto  :  all  fines  imposed  and  collected  by  any  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  for  any  offense  or  immoral  conduct,  were  required  to 
be  paid  to  the  district  Treasurer  for  the  use  of  schools  ;  and 
it  was  declared  lawful  for  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  to 
increase  the  number  of  School  Examiners,  but  not  to  exceed 
the  number  of  organized  townships  in  their  respective 
counties. 

Another  act  was  passed,  January  30,  1827,  establishing  a 
fund  for  the  support  of  the  common  schools.  The  proceeds 
of  section  sixteen  were  funded,  and  an  income  of  six  per  cent, 
appropriated  to  the  townships  or  district  of  country,  (as  the 
Virginia,  and  United  States  Military,)  with  a  pledge  of  the 
faith  of  the  State  for  its  annual  payment.  In  addition,  a 
State  fund  for  the  support  of  common  schools  was  established, 
consisting  of  the  net  proceeds  from  the  sales  of  salt  lands. 


154r  ADMINISTRATION   OF   ALLEN   TRIMBLE. 

and  such  donations,  legacies,  devises,  etc.,  as  might  be  made 
to  such  fnnd,  or  to  any  person  or  persons  in  trust  for  the 
same,  the  .interest  thereof  to  be  funded  annually,  until 
January  1,  1832,  and  then  distributed  annually  to  the  several 
counties  in  the  State  for  school  purposes,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  free  male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  as  by  law  should  be  ascertained  for  the  apportionment 
of  representatives. 

Ten  years  after  the  enactment  of  the  law  above  referred  to 
for  the  sale  of  section  sixteen,  the  operation  of  sections 
six  and  seven  was  thus  explained  in  a  report  by  Samuel 
Lewis,  State  Superintendent,  to  the  General  Assembly.* 

"  Thus  a  school  section  in  an  improving  settlement  was 
leased  at  an  early  day — say  from  1810  to  1820 — at  the  very 
low  price  at  which  lands  in  the  country  were  then  held,  say 
from  one  to  ten  dollars  per  acre,  for  the  term  of  ninety- 
nine  years,  renewable  forever,  subject  to  re-valuation  every 
twenty  or  thirty  years,  as  the  case  may  be,  for  they  vary  in 
time ;  the  interest  on  the  valuation  was  paid  annually .  In 
the  meantime,  the  land  had,  when  the  law  was  passed,  in 
creased  in  value  two  or  three  hundred  per  cent.,  and,  since 
its  passage,  has  risen  as  much  more ;  so  that  land  only  pay 
ing  an  interest  of  four  dollars  per  acre  is  worth,  in  some 
cases,  from  twenty  to  thirty  dollars  per  acre,  and  generally  in 
that  proportion  at  least. 

"  By  the  operation  of  this  law,  the  tenant  may  surrender 
his  lease,  and,  on  paying  the  former  appraisement,  take  a 
deed  in  fee  simple  for  land  sometimes  worth  six  times  as  much 
as  he  pays.  Cases  have  come  to  my  knowledge  where  land  has 
thus  been  taken  at  six  dollars  per  acre,  worth,  at  the  time, 
fifty  dollars.  Thus,  the  township  which  was,  in  fact,  well 
provided  with  school  lands,  is  deprived  of  almost  the  whole 
value,  by  a  law  which  can  in  no  case  operate  for  their  benefit, 
but  always  against  them  ;  none  but  good  lands  are  taken  on 
those  leases,  and  they  are  not  surrendered  unless  they  have 
greatly  increased  in  value;  the  tenants,  to  be  sure,  make 
tneir  fortunes,  but  the  schools  are  sacrificed.  In  this  way  a 
large  quantity  of  land  has  been  conveyed,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  valuable  land  is  now  exposed  to  the  like  opera 
tion.  The  whole  loss  can  not  be  estimated  now,  though  it 

*  These  sections  were  repealed  by  an  act  passed  March  16,  1838. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  ALLEN   TRIMBLE.  155 

must  be  immense — in  some  single  townships  more  than 
fifteen  thousand  dollars.  A  great  number  of  citizens  have 
urged  the  repeal  of  those  two  sections,  or  modifying  them  so 
as  to  avoid  the  present  difficulties. 

u  It  is  suggested,  that  the  voters  in  townships  where  these 
lands  lie  were  called  on  to  vote,  in  many  cases,  without 
having  seen  the  law,  and  without  being  informed  that  the 
lands  sold  must  go  at  the  former  valuation ;  there  was  no 
opportunity  of  publicly  discussing  the  question ;  the  whole 
depended,  in  a  great  measure,  on  the  influence  of  the  person 
taking  the  vote,  if  he  chose  to  exercise  it ;  and,  in  one  very 
aggravated  case,  the  assessor  was  a  lessee  on  the  land.  ~No 
public  vote  could  be  got  now  to  dispose  of  these  lands  at 
these  terms ;  and  some  complain  that  votes  taken  ten  years 
since,  before  the  lands  had  become  valuable,  and  before  they 
were  advised  of  all  the  consequences,  should  be  binding  still 
where  the  leases  have  not  been  surrendered ;  they  say  indi 
viduals  would  not  consent  to  take  for  their  property  now  the 
same  price  they  had  fixed  even  five  years  since." 

Governor  Trimble  addressed  the  twenty-sixth  session  of  the 
General  Assembly  as  follows,  upon  the  school  policy  of  the 
State : 

"  The  experiment  of  educating  all  the  youth  of  a  com 
munity,  has  been  successfully  made  by  several  of  the  Amer- 
can  States  ;  and  it  is  a  well  attested  fact,  that  under  a  well 
regulated  system  of  common  schools,  the  expense  of  imparting 
instruction  is  diminished,  and  the  entire  population  may 
participate  in  advantages  which  otherwise  would  be  limited 
to  comparatively  few.  It  is  equally  true,  and  a  circumstance 
not  to  be  lightly  estimated,  that  of  the  many  thousand  chil 
dren  taught  in  the  free  schools  in  one  of  the  most  commercial 
and  populous  districts  in  the  Union,  not  an  instance  had 
occurred  in  1825,  of  one  of  them  being  convicted  of  a  crime. 

"This  circumstance  alone  carries  with  it  an  irresistible 
argument  in  favor  of  universal  instruction,  and  should  induce 
our  fellow  citizens,  who  are  opposed  to  the  introduction  of 
the  system  of  common  schools,  to  adopt  from  motives  of 
economy,  a  measure,  which  would  expel  ignorance  and  vice, 
rather  than  be  taxed  a  large  sum  to  punish  crime.  If  the 
first  should  be  neglected,  the  latter  will  be  inevitable  ;  for  no 
nation  is  c  permitted  to  be  in  ignorance  with  impunity.' 

"  A  school  should  be  planted  and  supported  in  every 
neighborhood ;  it  would  prove,  if  cherished  and  invigorated, 
a  i  tree  of  useful  knowledge,  producing  good  without  evil,  and 


156  ADMINISTRATION    OF    ALLEN   TRIMBLE. 

help  to  make  a  paradise,  as  that  of  forbidden  use  occasioned 
the  loss  of  one.'  Impressed  with  the  belief  that  a  wise 
application  of  public  money,  for  the  purpose  of  education 
will  contribute  largely,  as  well  to  the  present  prosperity  as  to 
the  future  lame  and  happiness  of  the  country ;  I  respectfully 
recommend  an  increase  of  the  tax  for  common  schools,  and 
that  such  aid  be  given  to  our  universities  as  will  enable  them 
to  extend  their  means  of  usefulness,  commensurate  with  the 
increasing  requisitions  for  learning  and  literature  throughout 
the  country." 

By  the  legislation  of  1827-8,  the  recent  policy  of  the  State 
in  regard  to  the  disposition  of  section  sixteen,  was  extended, 
in  all  particulars,  to  the  Virginia  and  United  States  Military 
Districts  ;  but  leases  of  school  lands  were  only  authorized  for 
not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven  years,  unless  the 
inhabitants  had  declared  in  favor  of  a  sale,  when  leases  were 
required  to  be  from  year  to  year  only. 

At  the  twenty-seventh  session,  by  the  act  of  February  10, 
1829,  three-fourths  of  a  mill,  instead  of  one  mill,  was  levied 
for  school  purposes  within  the  counties;  provision  was  made  for 
forming  a  school  district  from  parts  of  two  or  more  townships  ; 
minute  directions  for  holding  district  meetings  were  given ; 
the  powers  and  duties  of  School  Directors,  district  Treasurer, 
and  district  Clerk,  defined  ;  the  number  of  county  Examiners 
(still  to  be  appointed  by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas)  fixed  at 
not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  the  townships  of  the  county ; 
rate-bills  authorized,  after  failure  of  school  fund ;  and  unless 
townships  were  districted  and  organized  into  schools  within 
three  years,  then  a  forfeiture  of  school  funds,  etc.  The  first  sec 
tion  of  this  act  qualified  its  assurance  of  the  "  instruction  of 
youth  of  every  class  and  grade  without  distinction,"  by  provid 
ing  "  that  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  so  construed  as 
to  permit  black  or  mulatto  persons  to  attend  the  schools  hereby 
established,  or  compel  them  to  pay  any  tax  for  the  support  of 
such  schools ;  but  all  taxes  assessed  on  their  property,  for 
school  purposes  in  the  several  counties  of  this  State,  shall 
be  appropriated  as  the  Trustees  of  the  several  townships  may 
direct,  for  the  education  of  said  black  and  mulatto  persona 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   ALLEN    TRIMBLE.  157 

therein,  and  for  no  other  purpose  whatever."  Suits  on 
behalf  of  a  district  were  to  be  brought  in  the  name  of  the 
district  Treasurer. 

In  his  message  to  the  twenty-eighth  session  of  the  General 
Assembly,  Governor  Morrow  said : 

"  If  there  is  any  one  subject  which,  more  than  another, 
claims  your  attention,  as  possessing  within  itself,  in  a  greater 
degree,  the  means  of  preserving  our  free  institutions,  of  in 
creasing  our  happiness,  and  advancing  our  prosperity,  it  is 
education — a  system  of  general  instruction,  that  shall  diffuse 
its  blessings  to  every  class,  and  shed  its  enlightening  in 
fluence  on  every  mind.  History  is  full  of  examples  where 
popular  liberty  has  degenerated  into  licentiousness  and 
anarchy — where  powerful  factions  have  grown  up  to  oppress 
the  few ;  and  the  people,  incapable  of  governing  themselves, 
to  avoid  the  turbulent  rules  of  many,  have  submitted  to  the 
tyranny  of  one.  All  men  have  the  right,  but  the  wise  and 
the  good  only  have  the  power,  to  remain  free. 

"  Should  the  subject  of  educating  youth  receive  the  atten 
tion  due  to  its  importance,  intelligence  will  become  common, 
public  virtue  will  accompany  it,  and  united,  they  will  form  a 
basis  upon  which  the  freedom,  future  fame,  and  happiness  of 
the  country  will  rest  secure.  The  system  of  common  schools 
which  has  been  adopted  by  the  State,  like  seed  sown  in  good 
soil,  is  taking  deep  root,  and  promises  a  continued  harvest 
of  the  first  fruits  of  virtue  as  well  as  letters,  which  we  hope, 
in  many  instances,  to  see  ripened  and  refined  in  our  higher 
institutions  of  learning.  It  is  regretted  that  the  number 
taught  in  our  common  schools  is  not  known.  In  the  Univer 
sities  of  Athens  and  Oxford,  and  Kenyon  College,  which  also 
deserve  to  be  classed  with  the  institutions  of  the  State,  there 
are  about  four  hundred  young  men  annually  taught;  and 
with  but  small  additional  expense,  instruction  might  be  im 
parted  to  double  that  number." 

In  an  amendatory  school  act,  passed  February,  22,  1830, 
first  occurred  a  provision,  afterward  often  repeated  in  suc 
cessive  revisions,  which  exhibits  a  remarkable  deference  to 
non-resident  proprietors.  The  tax  for  school-house  construc 
tion  was  limited  as  follows  : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  That  no  tax  exceeding  fifty  dollars,  in  any  one  year, 
shall  be  levied  by  any  school  district,  under  the  provisions 


158  ADMINISTRATION    OF    ALLEN   TRIMBLE. 

of  the  tenth  section  of  the  act  to  which  this  is  an  amendment ; 
unices  at  least  one-third  of  the  property  subject  to  taxation, 
within  such  district,  be  owned  by  persons  residing  therein  ; 
and  when  one-third,  or  more,  but  less  than  half  of  the  tax 
able  property  within  any  district,  be  owned  by  persons 
residing  therein,  such  tax  shall  not  exceed  one  hundred 
dollars,  in  any  one  year ;  and  where  half,  or  more,  but  less 
than  two-thirds  of  such  property,  be  owned  by  persons 
residing  in  such  district,  such  tax  shall  not  exceed  two 
hundred  dollars  in  any  one  year." 

By  former  legislation  each  householder  was  required  to 
pay  at  least  one  dollar  building  tax;  this  act  reduced  the 
minimum  to  fifty  cents,  and  allowed  a  delinquent  district  tax 
to  be  paid  without  penalty.  District  school  officers  were  re 
quired  to  take  an  oath  of  office,  and  were  subjected  to  a  penalty 
for  refusal  to  serve.  Governor  Trimble  retired  from  the 
office  of  Governor  with  the  following  statement,  contained  in 
his  message  of  December  8,  1830 : 

"  Our  common  schools  have  gradually  increased  under  the 
law  for  their  regulation  and  support.  From  calculation, 
founded  upon  the  enumeration  of  children  between  the  ages 
of  four  and  sixteen  years,  in  the  Virginia  Military  District, 
it  is  believed  that  not  less  than  350,000  children  within  the 
State,  receive,  or  are  entitled  to  receive,  instruction  in  these 
primary  schools.  Our  numerous  academies  and  colleges  are 
in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  are  all  receiving  a  gradual 
accession  of  students.  Our  female  academies  are  increasing ; 
and  a  deeper  interest  is  felt  throughout  the  State  for  the 
instruction  of  this  most  interesting  part  of  our  population." 

At  this  period  the  system  of  schools  had  assumed  a  form 
which,  with  the  exception  of  the  superintendence  of  Samuel 
Lewis  for  three  years,  was  not  materially  modified,  until  the 
constitutional  revision  of  1851,  and  the  legislation  subsequent 
thereto.  That  period,  therefore,  instead  of  the  separate  con 
sideration  of  each  political  administration,  will  constitute  the 
next  division  of  this  historical  outline. 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  159 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

EXECUTIVE  RECOMMENDATIONS— 1831-51. 

THE  testimony  of  those  distinguished  citizens,  who  have 
been  honored  by  the  people  of  Ohio  with  elections  to  the 
chief  magistracy  of  the  State,  although  uniform  in  its  charac 
ter,  affords  a  guarantee  of  the  value  and  usefulness  of  the 
school  system,  which  it  is  deemed  expedient  to  retain  in 
these  annals.  During  the  twenty  years  under  consideration, 
the  office  in  question  was  filled  more  frequently  by  popular 
election  than  in  the  preceding  thirty  years ;  consequently, 
the  opportunity  for  unfavorable  expression,  if  such  had  been 
the  direction  of  public  opinion,  was  very  fully  afforded. 

Gov.  Duncan  McArthur,  in  his  message  of  December  6, 
1831,  observed : 

"Having  myself  experienced  much  inconvenience,  and 
frequent  embarrassment,  from  the  want  of  a  more  liberal  ed 
ucation,  I  feel  more  sensibly  the  great  importance  of  securing 
to  the  rising  generation  the  benefits  of  instruction ;  and  I 
most  earnestly  recommend  to  you,  gentlemen,  a  continuation 
of  those  laudable  efforts  which  have  hitherto  characterized 
our  Legislature  for  the  promotion  of  education.  Our  schools 
and  colleges,  from  that  valuable  institution,  the  Sunday  schools, 
up  to  those  of  the  highest  grade,  should  always  claim  the 
most  favorable  consideration  of  our  Legislators.  A  well  edu 
cated  and  enlightened  people  only  are  capable  of  self -gov 
ernment,  the  greatest  temporal  blessing  which  Heaven  has 
bestowed  upon  man." 

Gov.  Robert  Lucas,  in  his  inaugural,  of  December  Y,  1832, 
said : 

"The  Constitution  declares  'that  schools  and  the  means 
of  instruction  shall  forever  be  encouraged  by  legislative 


ICO  EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

provision.'  This  is  a  subject  that  can  not  be  too  forcibly  im 
pressed  upon  our  minds ;  it  has  been  urged  by  executive 
communication,  from  the  organization  of  our  government, 
but  never,  until  the  session  of  1824  and  '25,  could  the  Leg 
islature  be  brought  to  give  their  assent  to  the  passage  of  a 
bill  to  regulate  common  schools.  The  first  act  met  with  se 
rious  opposition  in  some  parts  of  the  State,  and  petitions 
were  presented  for  its  repeal,  but  without  success,  the  law 
having  been  continued  so  that  the  people  have  become  ac 
quainted  with  its  objects,  and  are  now  generally  in  favor  of 
the  system.  Subsequently  to  the  passage  of  the  first  school 
law,  an  act  was  passed  appropriating  the  avails  arising  from 
the  sales  of  the  salt  reservations,  as  a  foundation  upon  which 
to  build  a  permanent  fund,  for  the  support  of  common  schools 
within  the  State.  This  fund  is,  at  this  time,  insufficient  to 
answer  any  valuable  purpose ;  but  I  trust  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  public  opinion  will  be  concentrated  in  favor  of 
supplying  the  means  of  instruction,  and  that,  by  an  increase 
of  that  fund,  a  system  of  common  schools  will  be  established 
upon  a  permanent  basis,  sufficiently  enlarged  to  extend  its 
benefits  to  every  child  in  the  State ;  and  that  the  higher 
branches  will  receive  sufficient  encouragement  to  enable  them 
to  extend  their  benefits  in  a  proportionate  degree.  All  that 
is  wanting  to  accomplish  this  desirable  object,  is  to  have  pub 
lic  opinion  in  its  favor;  with  this,  under  Providence,  we  can 
accomplish  any  thing — without  it,  we  can  do  nothing." 

Again,  December  3,  1833 : 

"The  establishment  of  a  well-regulated  system  for  the  edu 
cation  of  the  rising  generation,  is  among  the  most  important 
subjects  presented  for  legislative  consideration ;  for  nothing 
can  be  more  important  than  general  information  to  the  citi 
zens  of  a  government,  where  the  sovereign  power  is  lodged 
with  the  people,  and  whose  will,  through  their  constituted 
agents,  controls  its  operations.  And  as  knowledge  is  power, 
in  a  government  where  every  member  has  equal  rights,  its 
general  diffusion  must  strengthen  the  bonds  of  society,  and 
add  to  the  durability  of  our  institutions.  A  system  of  com 
mon  schools  that  will  impart  to  our  whole  population  the  ben 
efit  of  a  competent  business  education,  would  vastly  promote 
the  happiness  of  individuals,  and  the  prosperity  ••!'  the  State. 

"  The  importance  of  perfecting  such  a  system  can  not  be 
too  firmly  impressed  upon  your  consideration.  And  while 
we  consider  common  scl KM. Is  a?  the  inundation  of  a  well-regu 
lated  system  of  education,  and  entitled  to  the  first  consideration 


EXECUTIVE    RECOMMENDATIONS.  161 

yet  we  are  duly  sensible  of  the  benefits  and  importance 
of  supporting,  with  all  the  means  under  our  control,  those 
institutions  of  a  higher  order  that  diffuse  their  benefits  in  a 
more  eminent  degree,  none  of  which  are  more  entitled  to  our 
commendation  than  those  that  have  attached  to  them  system 
atic  manual  labor,  where,  in  addition  to  the  disciplining  and 
cultivation  of  the  mind,  the  pupil  is  carefully  trained  to  habits 
of  industry  and  morality,  and  thereby  doubly  prepared  for 
usefulness  in  life." 

Governor  Lucas,  in  his  message  of  December  8,  1835, 
thus  alludes  to  the  European  methods  of  instruction,  and 
especially  to  M.  Cousin's  celebrated  report  to  the  French 
Government : 

"The  subject  of  education  has  been  frequently  pressed 
upon  the  consideration  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  numer 
ous  acts  have  been  passed  on  the  subject  of  schools,  acade 
mies,  colleges,  and  universities;  and,  in  addition  to  those 
institutions  erected  by  law,  many  other  means  have  been  re 
sorted  to,  by  the  pious  and  philanthropic  classes  of  the  com 
munity,  to  diffuse  intelligence,  improve  the  mind,  and  reform 
the  morals  of  the  people.  Yet  our  system  of  education  is 
languishing,  in  proportion  to  our  other  improvements.  The 
question  may  be  asked,  Why  is  it  so  ?  It  is  admitted  by  all 
intelligent  statesmen,  that  in  knowledge  consists  the  strength 
of  all  liberal  governments ;  that  the  prosperity  and  happiness 
of  every  people  are  in  proportion  to  their  virtue  and  intelli 
gence.  Notwithstanding  this  admission,  but  few  nations  in 
the  world  have  established  regular  systems  of  elementary 
schools.  This  subject,  however,  has,  of  late,  excited  the 
attention  of  some  of  the  most  enlightened  nations  of  Europe, 
and  the  various  systems  of  public  instruction  in  operation  in 
the  different  governments,  have  been  examined  by  men  of 
the  highest  literary  acquirements ;  and  according  to  the  re 
port  of  M.  Victor  Cousin  to  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruc 
tion  in  France,  the  Prussian  system  has  been  thought  supe 
rior  to  any  heretofore  established  in  any  government  in 
Europe,  though  many  parts  of  this  system  of  public  in 
struction  are  not  adapted  to  the  spirit  and  feelings  of  the 
American  people,  nor  to  our  form  of  government,  yet,  from 
the  results  of  this  great  experiment  in  giving  the  whole 
people  that  kind  and  degree  of  instruction  which  they  need, 
some  of  the  most  useful,  practical  lessons  may  be  obtained. 
The  nature  and  operations  of  the  human  mind  are  the  same 

11 


162  EXECUTIVE   KECOMMENDATION8. 

in  all  countries ;  and  the  relation  which  exists  between 
knowledge  and  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  remains 
unchanged.  M.  Cousin  has  in  his  report  made  a  full  and 
faithful  statement  of  the  workings,  and  practical  application 
of  the  well-tried  school  system  of  Prussia.  A  copy  of  an 
American  edition  of  this  work  has  been  forwarded  to  me  by 
the  publishers  in  New  York.  This  system  appears  to  be  the 
result  of  a  constant  accumulation  of  practical  knowledge  for 
fifty  years.  The  evils  of  either  teaching  or  legislating  which 
appeared,  have  received  a  remedy ;  and  the  highest  point  of 
excellence  of  one  age  has  been  made  the  starting  point  of  im 
provement  by  the  age  succeeding.  This  experimental  knowl 
edge  is  what  we  want.  The  reason  why  we  legislate  for  the 
education  of  the  people  so  badly  is,  that  there  is  little  instruc 
tion  to  be  derived  from  past  experience.  In  the  preface  to 
this  work,  the  school  systems  adopted  by  the  several  States  in 
the  Union  are  examined,  and  whatever  is  deemed  their  defects 
are  pointed  out.  The  report  of  M.  Cousin  is  divided  into 
four  sections,  to- wit :  general  organization  of  public  instruc 
tion  ;  primary  schools ;  instruction  of  the  second  degree ; 
and  higher  instruction  in  universities.  This  book  I  have 
placed  in  the  State  library,  and  respectfully  recommend  it  to 
the  consideration  of  the  General  Assembly  and  to  the  School 
Committee,  as  a  work  containing  mu£h  important  information 
on  the  subject  of  education  generally,  and  from  which  much 
useful  knowledge  may  be  obtained  with  regard  to  the  estab 
lishment  and  regulation  of  common  schools." 

Governor  Lucas  signalized  his  retirement  from  the  guber 
natorial  chair,  by  exerting  his  influence  in  favor  of  an  appli 
cation  of  the  United  States  surplus  revenue  fund  to  school 
purposes,  as  well  as  by  other  practical  suggestions  of  much 
value.  In  his  message  of  December  6,  1836,  he  observes : 

u  The  first  and  most  important  subject  to  which  your  atten 
tion  is  directed,  is  a  communication  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  dated  June  27,  1836 ; 
together  with  an  act  of  Congress  transmitted  therewith, 
entitled  l  an  act  to  regulate  the  deposits  of  the  public  money.' 
A  copy  of  the  communication  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
together  with  a  copy  of  the  act  of  Congress  referred  to  in  the 
same,  are  herewith  transmitted,  to  which  I  solicit  your  imme 
diate  consideration. 

"  You  will  perceive  that  the  thirteenth  section  of  the  act  of 
Congress  aforesaid,  declares,  4  that  the  money  which  shall  be 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  163 

in  the  treasury  of  the  United  States,  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  1837,  reserving  the  sum  of  five  millions  of  dollars, 
shall  be  deposited  with  such  of  the  several  States,,  in  propor 
tion  to  their  respective  representation  in  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  as  shall  by  law, 
authorize  their  Treasurers,  or  the  competent  authorities,  to 
receive  the  same  on  the  terms  hereinafter  specified ;  and 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  deliver  the  same  to  such 
Treasurer,  or  other  competent  authorities,  on  receiving  certi 
ficates  of  deposit  thereafter,  signed  by  such  competent 
authorities,  in  such  form  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  Secre 
tary  aforesaid  ;  which  certificates  shall  express  the  usual  and 
legal  obligations,  and  pledge  the  faith  of  the  State  for  the  safe 
keeping  and  re-payment  thereof,  and  shall  pledge  the  faith  of 
the  States  receiving  the  same,  to  pay  the  said  moneys  and 
every  part  thereof,  from  time  to  time,  whenever  the  same 
shall  be  required  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  the 
purpose  of  defraying  any  wants  of  the  public  treasury,  be 
yond  the  amount  of  five  millions  aforesaid :  Provided,  That 
if  any  State  declines  to  receive  its  proportion  of  the  surplus 
aforesaid,  on  the  terms  before  named,  the  same  shall  be 
deposited  with  the  other  States  agreeing  to  accept  the  same 
on  deposit,  in  the  proportion  aforesaid. 

"  I  presume  there  can  be  but  one  opinion  on  the  propriety 
and  expediency  of  receiving  our  proportion  of  the  surplus 
revenue,  upon  the  terms  specified  in  the  act  of  Congress. 
The  condition  on  which  a  re-payment  can  be  required  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  is  for  the  pur 
pose  of  defraying  the  wants  of  the  public  treasury.  These 
wants  would  have  to  be  supplied  if  this  surplus  fund  had  no 
existence.  By  the  regular  operation  of  our  revenue  laws, 
there  is  little  probability  that  such  wants  of  the  public  treasury 
will  ever  become  sufficient  to  justify  a  demand  upon  the 
States,  for  the  re-payment  of  their  several  proportions,  depos 
ited  with  them  under  the  act  of  Congress  aforesaid. 

"  With  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  can  perceive  no  impro 
priety  in  receiving  our  portion  of  the  surplus  revenue,  and 
making  immediate  application  of  it,  to  permanent  purposes 
within  the  State.  The  precise  sum  that  may  fall  to  our  por 
tion,  can  not  at  present  be  ascertained  ;  but  from  the  late 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States, 
it  will  probably  exceed  THREE  MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS.  This  sum 
being  providentially  placed  under  our  control,  through  the 
operation  of  our  revenue  laws,  after  the  entire  extinguishment 
of  the  national  debt,  is  truly  a  cause  of  gratulation,  and 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

if  judiciously  applied  within  the  State,  to  purposes  of  a  per 
manent  character,  can  not  fail  to  extend  its  benefits  to  the 
latest  posterity. 

u  This  money  is  emphatically  the  property  of  the  people, 
in  which  the  poor  and  the  rich  have  an  equal  right,  and 
in  its  application  special  regard  should  be  had  to  an  equal 
distribution  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived  therefrom. 

"  On  this  subject  I  have  thought  much,  and  can  devise  no 
plan  for  the  application  of  this  money,  that  would  be  likely 
to  diffuse  its  benefits  to  every  class  of  community,  more  than 
its  application  to  the  support  of  common  schools ;  I  would, 
therefore,  recommend  to  your  consideration,  in  the  most 
express  manner,  the  propriety  of  constituting  it  at  once  a 
common  school  fund,  to  be  irrevocable  ;  the  State  to  become 
the  trustee  of  said  fund,  with  authority  to  invest  the  principal, 
either  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  canal  debt — to  fill  the 
loans  authorized  by  law,  for  the  purpose  of  extending  our 
canals  within  the  State,  or  for  other  public  improvements — 
or  to  vest  it  in  such  stocks  within  the  State,  as  may  be  deemed 
most  safe  and  profitable ;  the  interest  or  dividends  accruing 
therefrom  to  be  distributed  annually  among  the  several 
counties  in  the  State,  for  the  support  of  common  schools 
therein,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children  in  each 
county  respectively.  This  would  enable  us  to  exalt  the  char 
acter  of  our  common  schools,  and  lay  the  foundation  for 
a  superstructure  of  intelligence  sufficiently  spacious  to  extend, 
to  every  child  in  the  State,  a  common  school  education,  and 
to  open  the  way,  for  those  who  may  possess  talents  and  an 
inclination  to  obtain  a  higher  degree  of  education,  to  progress 
from  step  to  step,  to  the  highest  degree  of  universal  science. 

"  This,  gentlemen,  is  one  of  the  most  important  subjects 
that  has  been  presented  for  legislative  consideration.  Our 
system  of  public  instruction  has  hitherto  languished  for  want 
of  the  means  of  support ;  the  means  now  under  your  control, 
if  applied  to  the  purposes  of  education,  can  not  fail  to  exalt 
the  character  of  the  State  in  an  eminent  degree. 

'*  It  has  been  wisely  said,  that  c  knowledge  is  power,'  and 
that  '  virtue  and  intelligence  constitute  the  strength  of  repub 
lics.'  The  truth  of  these  maxims  has  been  tested  by  all  past 
experience. 

"  To  perfect  a  system  of  public  instruction,  I  am  convinced 
that  we  must  begin  with  common  schools,  and  that  the  most, 
ctK  ctual  support  that  can  be  given  to  our  academies,  colleges, 
and  universities,  will  be  to  raise  the  standard  of  common 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  165 

schools,  to  that  of  preparatory  schools,  where  the  scholar  can 
be  prepared,  under  the  immediate  eye  of  the  parent,  for  an 
entrance  into  a  seminary  of  a  higher  degree. 

"  The  application  of  this  fund  in  the  manner  suggested, 
will  be  attended  with  a  double  benefit ;  the  State  will  enjoy 
all  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  an  immediate  applica 
tion  and  circulation  of  the  principal,  while  the  accruing 
benefits  may  extend  to  the  latest  generations. 

"  The  foregoing  suggestions  are  respectfully  submitted 
to  your  consideration,  with  an  ardent  solicitation  that  you 
will  give  to  the  whole  subject  that  prompt  and  serious  atten 
tion  to  which  it  is  justly  entitled. 

"The  resolution  of  the  llth  of  March  last,  'providing  for 
a  School  District  Manual,'  made  it  the  duty  of  the  Governor 
to  appoint  a  committee  of  two  persons,  to  prepare  and  report 
to  the  next  General  Assembly,  a  School  District  Manual, 
explaining  the  duties  of  all  officers  under  the  '  act  regulating 
common  schools,'  'with  proper  forms  of  proceedings,  in 
levying  taxes,  holding  school  meetings,  conducting  suits,  and 
in  all  other  matters  relating  to  district  schools,  etc.'  In 
compliance  with  the  duty  required  by  said  resolution,  the 
Honorable  John  H.  James,  of  Urbana,  and  the  Honorable 
Joseph  R.  Swan,  of  Columbus,  were  appointed  said  commit 
tee,  and  severally  accepted  the  appointment.  The  character 
of  these  gentlemen,  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  an  able  and 
explicit  report  on  the  subject  referred  to  them  will  be  made 
in  due  time. 

"A  copy  of  the  resolutions  of  the  14th  of  March,  cin 
relation  to  public  instruction  and  education,'  requesting  the 
Rev.  C.  E.  Stowe,  Professor  in  one  of  the  literary  institutions 
in  this  State,  to  collect,  during  the  progress  of  his  contem 
plated  tour  in  Europe,  such  facts  and  information  as  he  might 
deem  useful  to  the  State,  in  relation  to  the  various  systems  of 
public  instruction  and  education,  which  have  been  adopted  in 
the  several  countries  through  which  he  may  pass,  and  to 
make  report  thereof,  with  such  practical  observations  as  he 
might  think  proper,  to  the  next  General  Assembly,'  was 
transmitted  under  the  seal  of  the  State,  to  Professor  Stowe,  a 
few  days  after  its  passage,  who  acknowledged  its  receipt,  and 
accepted  the  trust  therein  reposed. 

"He  proceeded  to  Europe  shortly  afterward  ;  and  his  return 
to  the  United  States  (as  I  have  been  informed)  was  expected 
in  November.  I  have  not  yet  heard  of  his  arrival.  When 
he  returns  to  Ohio,  we  may  anticipate  a  luci^  report  on 


166  EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

the  systems  of  public  instruction  and  education,  in  some  of 
the  most  enlightened  nations  in  Europe,  from  which  much 
benefit  to  the  cause  of  education  in  Ohio  may  be  derived." 

These  views  were  enforced  by  Governor  Joseph  Vance, 
in  his  Inaugural  Address  of  December  13,  1836,  who 
iv  n  larked: 

"  Gentlemen,  there  is  one  other  subject  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  bring  to  your  consideration : 

u  Under  a  law  of  Congress,  that  portion  of  the  surplus 
revenue  of  the  country  belonging  to  Ohio,  is  about  to  be 
placed  at  your  disposal.  Various  plans  have  been  proposed 
tor  its  application — some  for  applying  it  to  the  payment  of 
the  State  debt,  some  for  appropriating  it  to  new  objects  of 
improvement,  some  for  dividing  it  among  the  counties,  and 
others  in  favor  of  its  application  to  the  establishment  of  a 
State  bank.  All  these  objects  may  be  worthy  of  your  con 
sideration  ;  but  it  would  be  well  for  you  in  the  first  place,  to 
inquire  what  is  the  character  of  this  fund,  and  to  whom  it 
properly  belongs,  and  see  whether  there  is  not  a  portion  of 
society  that  have  not  that  direct  interest  in  the  payment  of 
the  debt,  the  further  improvement  of  the  State,  the  building 
up  of  county  interests,  or  the  establishment  of  a  bank,  who 
have  at  least  an  equal,  if  not  a  paramount,  claim  upon  a  por 
tion  of  this  fund,  and  who  can  not  agree  that  its  application 
shall  be  made  to  these  objects,  without  palpable  injustice  to 
their  own  immediate  wants. 

"  I  can  not  say,  with  certainty,  what  portion  of  this  fund 
belongs  to  this  particular  class  of  society;  but,  from  the  best 
computation  I  have  been  able  to  make,  at  least  one  third  of 
it  is  theirs,  and  should  be  applied  to  their  exclusive  benefit, 
and  to  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatever. 

"This  fund  has  been  commonly,  but  erroneously,  called 
the  surplus  revenue.  It  is,  in  reality,  the  avails  of  our 
great  laud  capital  converted  into  money,  and  not  revenue, 
which  is  the  ordinary  income  of  a  country  from  imposts  and 
taxes  on  her  property,  her  trade,  and  her  business.  Thirty- 
five  millions  of  the  balance  now  in  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States  has  arisen  from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  since  the 
payment  of  the  national  debt  for  which  these  lands  were 
pledged.  This  sum,  at  least,  is  the  inheritance  of  the  people, 
originally  gained  by  the  toil,  and  suffering,  and  blood  of 
their  revolutionary  lathers. 

ult  is  a  S&cred  gift  to  us,  now  freed  from  incumbrance,  and 
belongs  alike  to  the  whole  body  of  our  people — "the  humblest 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  167 

and  the  proudest,  the  wealthiest  and  the  most  destituted 
That  which  we  have  received  by  the  uncompromising  fidelity 
of  those  in  whom  the  guardianship  and  trust  was  reposed,  it 
is  our  duty  to  invest  and  preserve  for  ourselves  and  for  our 
posterity. 

"Then,  gentlemen,  it  is  your  duty  to  make  the  computa 
tion,  and  see  what  portion  of  it  belongs  to  the  poor  and 
destitute.  Remember  that  you  are  now  about  to  become 
their  trustees  and  guardians,  and  that  a  heavy  responsibility 
rests  upon  you  to  make  such  application  of  their  means  as 
will  enable  them  to  become  worthy  members  of  society,  and 
enlightened  and  useful  citizens  of  the  State.  This  can  only 
be  done  by  building  up  our  common  schools ;  and  when  we 
reflect  that  the  very  foundations  of  our  political  system  rest 
upon  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  our  people,  and  that  the 
interest  at  stake  is  no  less  than  the  perpetuation  of  our  free 
institutions,  you  can  not  falter  in  your  exertions  to  accom 
plish  the  great  object  in  view. 

"  Read  our  Constitution,  and  there  learn  what  were  the 
feelings  of  our  fathers  upon  this  subject.  The  twenty-fifth 
section  of  the  eighth  article  reads  thus:  'No  law  shall  be 
passed  to  prevent  the  poor  in  the  several  counties  and  town 
ships  in  this  State  from  an  equal  participation  in  the  schools, 
academies,  colleges,  and  universities  of  this  State,  endowed 
in  whole  or  in  part  from  the  revenues  arising  from  donations 
made  by  the  United  States.' 

"  How  has  this  injunction  been  regarded  ?  "We,  to  be  sure, 
have  not  passed  a  law  to  prohibit  the  poor  from  entering  our 
colleges  and  universities,  but  from  a  want  of  that  system  and 
organization  necessary  to  give  efficacy  to  our  common  schools, 
they  are  as  much  excluded  as  if  they  were  prohibited  by  pos 
itive  statute. 

"Our  school  system  has  had  great  difficulties  to  encoun 
ter;  it  has  been  met  by  the  combined  force  of  avarice, 
wealth  and  ignorance;  but  I  now  congratulate  its  early 
advocates  that  their  labors  are  about  to  be  crowned  with 
success.  A  fund  is  now  within  their  reach  that  avarice  has 
no  claim  to,  wealth  can  not  control,  and  which  will  make 
ignorance  itself  acknowledge  its  fatal  error,  and  bow  in 
perfect  submission.  Then  let  the  grumbler  no  more  talk 
about  his  heavy  contributions  for  the  education  of  the  poor ; 
if  the  poor  and  the  destitute  get  their  rights,  they  will  no 
longer  be  quartered  upon  his  bounty ;  but  rather  let  it  be  our 
ambition  to  vie  with  each  other  in  our  exertions  to  bring  into 
form  a  system  of  education  which  will  insure  a  faithful  and 


168  EXECUTIVE    RECOMMENDATIONS. 

impartial  application  of  the  means  now  at  our  command, 
with  those  in  prospect,  so  that  a  diffusion  of  the  benefits  and 
blessings  of  a  thorough  common  school  education  shall  reach 
every  child  throughout  every  section  of  our  State. 

"  No  person  can  appreciate  more  sensibly  than  myself  the 
want  of  an  early  education:  even  in  the  place  in  which  I 
now  stand,  it  is  felt  with  a  pungency  and  force  more  easily 
understood  than  explained.  This  whole  matter  is  now  about 
to  be  committed  to  your  care ;  and  I  have  a  strong  confidence 
that  it  will  meet  with  that  favor  that  its  high  claims  upon 
your  consideration  so  loudly  calls  for." 

In  his  message  of  December  5,  1837,  Governor  Yance 
enlarged  upon  the  preceding  views,  urging  as  a  permanent 
national  policy  the  distribution  of  the  public  lands  for  school 
purposes. 

Governor  "Wilson  Shannon,  in  his  Inaugural  Address  of 
December  13, 1838,  said : 

"  In  a  republican  government  like  ours,  where  the  sover 
eign  power  is  vested  in  the  people,  and  where  virtue,  intelli 
gence,  and  patriotism  are  indispensably  necessary  to  the 
maintenance  and  perpetuity  of  our  free  institutions,  the  sub 
ject  of  education  should  be  one  of  the  first  importance.  No 
people,  in  an  organized  state  of  society,  can  be  either  free  or 
happy  without  virtue  and  intelligence ;  and,  to  secure  both, 
a  well  digested  and  liberal  system  of  education  is  indis 
pensable. 

"  The  framers  of  our  Constitution,  convened  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  the  organic  law  of  our  State,  were  so  deeply 
impressed  with  the  primary  importance  of  education,  that 
they  declared  in  the  constitution  itself,  that  '  religion,  moral 
ity,  and  knowledge,  being  essentially  necessary  to  good  gov 
ernment  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the 
means  of  instruction  shall  forever  be  encouraged  by  legisla 
tive  provision.'  So  universal  and  wide-spread  is  the  opinion 
that  education  is  indispensable  to  the  perpetuity  of  our  insti 
tutions,  and  the  well-being  and  happiness  of  the  people,  that 
we  find  similar  declarations  in  the  Constitution  of  every  State, 
perhaps,  in  the  Union.  The  European  communities  are  also 
alive  to  the  importance  of  this  subject ;  and  the  persons  in 
power,  yielding  to  the  strong  current  of  public  opinion,  or 
actuated  by  an  enlightened  and  patriotic  sense  of  public  duty, 
have  established  some  of  the  best  systems  of  education  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  I  trust  that  we  will  not  disappoint 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  169 

the  just  expectations  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  or 
fall  behind  the  spirit  of  the  age,  by  neglecting  to  foster  and 
cherish  a  broad  and  liberal  system  of  education,  which  will 
furnish  the  means  of  instruction  to  all  the  rising  youth  of  the 
State.  It  is  not  by  the  erection  of  academies,  colleges,  and 
universities,  that  a  people  are  to  become  educated ;  these,  it 
is  true,  are  highly  useful,  and  justly  considered  indispensable 
in  every  well  organized  system  of  education ;  but  their  ben 
efits  and  advantages,  from  necessity,  must  be  limited  to  a  few 
individuals,  and  those  generally  of  the  more  wealthy  portion 
of  the  people.  It  is  only  by  the  system  of  free  common 
schools  that  the  means  of  education  are  furnished  to  every 
one — that  the  rich  and  the  poor  are  alike  able  to  avail  them 
selves  of  the  advantages  of  instruction,  and  the  whole  com 
munity  enlightened  and  improved. 

"  Our  common  school  system,  which  was  commenced  in 
1825,  and  which,  since  then,  has  undergone  various  modifica 
tions  and  changes,  has  no  doubt  been  the  means  of  doing 
some  good ;  but  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  our  legislation  on 
this  subject  has  been  so  unstable,  that  it  has  been  difficult  for 
those  whose  duty  it  was  to  carry  out  the  law,  and  put  the  sys 
tem  into  practical  operation,  to  keep  pace  with  the  contin 
ually  changing  provisions  of  the  statute.  This  has  no  doubt 
been  owing  to  a  laudable  desire,  on  the  part  of  the  Legislature, 
to  improve  and  perfect  the  system ;  but  it  has  prevented  the 
people  from  becoming  acquainted  with  the  mode  of  doing 
business  under  it,  and,  in  some  cases,  excited  objections 
which  would  not  otherwise  have  existed. 

"It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  light  which  has  recently  been 
shed  upon  this  subject,  and  our  past  experience,  will  render 
our  legislation  in  reference  to  common  schools,  less  changea 
ble  than  heretofore.  From  the  various  sources  provided  by 
law,  there  will,  hereafter,  be  annually  applicable  to  the  object 
of  common  school  education  near  half  a  million  of  dollars. 
This  rand,  if  judiciously  applied,  will  do  much  to  promote 
the  cause  of  common  school  education  in  our  State,  and  dif 
fuse  among  the  youth  of  the  country  that  universal  intelli 
gence  so  essential  to  the  happiness  of  mankind,  and  so  indis 
pensable  in  the  preservation  of  our  republican  institutions. 

"Under  the  present  act,  for  the  support  and  better  regula 
tion  of  common  schools,  our  German  population  are,  in  some 
degree,  excluded  from  its  benefits.  The  present  law  requires 
that  Reading,  Writing,  and  Arithmetic,  shall  be  taught  in 
the  English  language:  Provided,  however,  That  any  other 
language  may  be  taught  in  addition  to  the  English,  at  the 


170  EXECUTIVE  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

discretion  of  the  Directors.  Although  the  German  may  be 
taught  in  connection  with  the  English  language,  if  the  School 
Directors  so  order,  yet  it  is  impossible,  in  many  places,  to 
procure  a  teacher  capable  of  teaching  both  German  and  Eng 
lish,  or  to  procure  an  English  teacher  capable  of  teaching 
German  children.  The  consequence  is,  that  in  German  set 
tlements,  they  are  unable  to  sustain  any  other  than  German 
schools,  by  which  they  are  entirely  excluded  from  the  benefit 
of  the  school  fund.  This  is  not  justice,  to  say  the  least. 
The  Germans  contribute  their  equal  proportion  toward  the 
school  fund,  with  other  citizens  ;  they  have  the  same  interest 
in  it  with  others,  and  no  portion  of  the  community  more 
cheerfully  comply  with  all  the  laws'  of  the  country  than  they 
do.  They  constitute  a  large  portion  of  our  population,  and 
are  increasing  annually.  They  are  industrious,  frugal,  intel 
ligent  and  virtuous,  and  devotedly  attached  to  our  free  insti 
tutions.  Their  rights  and  interests  should  not,  therefore,  be 
disregarded.  Why  not  leave  it  discretionary  with  each  dis 
trict,  whether  the  English,  or  German  or  both,  shall  be 
taught  ?  It  is  true  it  may  be  desirable  that  all  our  population 
should  be  capable  of  understanding  the  English  language, 
but  this  can  not  be  brought  about  in  a  day ;  it  will  require 
time,  and  must,  and  no  doubt  will,  take  place  gradually,  by 
the  necessary  and  continual  intercourse  between  the  German 
and  English  population.  But  it  can  not  be  produced  by  an 
arbitrary  act  of  legislation,  requiring  that  to  be  done  which 
is  impracticable,  either  on  account  of  the  feelings  and  educa 
tion  of  parents,  or  the  impossibility  of  procuring  suitable 
teachers. 

"Our  German  population  should  be  furnished  with  the 
school,  and  all  other  important  laws  of  the  State,  printed  in 
their  own  language.  A  large  portion  of  them,  from  their 
avocations  and  advanced  age  of  life,  are  prevented  from 
learning  the  English  language.  They  are  required  to  obey 
the  law,  and  comply  with  its  various  provisions ;  and  if  they 
fail  to  do  so,  they  must  abide  the  consequences.  The  means, 
therefore,  of  becoming  acquainted  with  it  should  be  placed 
within  their  reach." 

Again,  in  his  annual  message  of  December  3,  1839. 

"  Education,  and  moral  and  intellectual  improvement 
among  our  citizens,  are  steadily  and  rapidly  advancing  under 
our  liberal  system  of  instruction.  That  general  intelligence 
which  is,  and  must  ever  continue  to  be,  the  great  bulwark  <>f 
our  republican  institutions,  and  which  is  the  result,  in  a  great 


EXECUTIVE  RECOMMENDATIONS.  171 

degree,  of  our  liberal  system  of  education,  and  the  inquiring 
spirit  of  the  age,  is  rapidly  increasing  throughout  the  whole 
country.  It  is  a  duty  which  we  owe  to  ourselves,  as  well  as 
to  posterity,  to  adopt  all  the  necessary  means,  which  prudence 
may  suggest  and  wisdom  devise,  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  our 
free  institutions.  From  the  history  of  the  past  we  may  learn 
something  of  the  future ;  and  it  is  a  fact  worthy  to  be  re 
marked,  that  no  other  people  have  long  been  able  to  preserve 
their  freedom,  when  the  mass  of  the  community  were  unedu 
cated  and  uninformed.  The  great  and  unprecedented  suc 
cess  which  has  marked  our  free  institutions,  and  the  wisdom 
and  prudence  which  has  generally  characterized  the  adminis 
tration  of  our  public  affairs,  are  mainly  to  be  attributed  to  the 
force  of  enlightened  public  opinion,  emanating  from  an  intel 
ligent  and  well  educated  community.  If  we  expect  to  avoid 
the  fate  of  other  republics  in  times  past,  and  preserve  our 
free  institutions  from  the  inroads  of  despotism  and  the  selfish 
ambition  of  the  designing  few,  we  must  foster  and  cherish 
the  means  of  general  instruction.  An  enlightened  system  of 
education,  by  which  the  rising  youth  in  each  succeeding 
generation  will  be  prepared  and  qualified  to  act  the  part 
assigned  them  by  the  theory  and  fundamental  principles  of 
our  government,  as  they  take  their  position  on  the  stage  of 
human  action,  is  the  strongest  barrier  that  can  be  presented 
against  an ti -republican  principles.  "We  may  with  confidence 
anticipate,  that  so  long  as  we  maintain  a  liberal,  enlightened, 
and  general  system  of  instruction  in  our  State,  our  free  insti 
tutions  will  be  maintained,  liberty  and  a  love  of  order  and 
good  government  will  be  cherished,  and,  under  Providence, 
we  will  continue  to  be  a  prosperous  and  happy  people. 

"  There  is  some  opposition  still  existing  to  our  system  of 
common  schools  ;  nor  is  it  to  be  presumed  that  the  system  is 
without  some  objections,  or  that  any  general  law  could  at 
once  be  put  in  operation  that  would  meet  with  universal 
approbation.  The  system  established  by  the  present  school 
law  is,  comparatively  speaking,  new,  and  we  have  not  become 
familiar  with  the  mode  of  doing  business  under  it ;  but  it  ia 
doubtful  whether  a  better  system,  as  to  its  general  features, 
could  be  adopted  ;  or  one  that  would  give  more  universal  sat 
isfaction  to  the  people.  Time  and  experience  will  suggest  the 
defects  in  the  present  school  law,  and  they  will,  no  doubt,  be 
gradually  removed  by  legislative  action,  until  it  is  rendered 
as  perfect,  and  as  satisfactory  to  the  public  as  any  system 
which  could  be  devised.  Any  great  and  radical  change, 
unless  for  very  obvious  and  weighty  reasons  is  to  be 


172  EXECUTIVE   EECOMMENPATION8. 

deprecated;  new  experiments  should  be  avoided;  and  our  legis 
lation  on  this  subject  should  assume  a  stable  character.  The 
law  of  last  session,  by  removing  the  just  causes  of  complaint, 
has  had  the  effect  of  reconciling,  in  a  great  degree,  our 
German  population  to  the  present  school  law.  I  have  not 
heard  of  any  complaints  from  this  valuable  and  patriotic  por 
tion  of  our  fellow  citizens,  since  they  have  been  permitted  to 
an  equal  participation  with  other  citizens  in  the  benefits  of 
the  system. 

"  I  would  respectfully  call  your  attention  to  the  very  able 
and  satisfactory  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  made  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature,  on  the 
subject  of  school  lands,  and  the  proceeds  of  school  lands.  It 
will  be  perceived,  upon  an  examination  of  that  report,  that 
several  townships  in  this  State  have  been  deprived  of  school 
section  sixteen,  and  have  never  received  any  section  in  lieu 
thereof;  and  that  they  are  entitled,  either  from  the  State  or 
General  Government,  to  an  equivalent  for  the  land  of  which 
they  have  been  deprived.  Also,  that  there  is  a  deficiency  in 
one  of  the  quarter  townships,  in  the  United  States  Military 
school  land,  of  four  hundred  and  eight  acres,  as  found  on 
actual  survey,  which  Congress  would,  no  doubt,  make  good 
upon  a  proper  application.  There  were  a  large  number  of 
fractional  townships  in  this  State  having  no  section  sixteen, 
and  unprovided  with  school  land  under  the  original  law. 
In  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  Congress  passed  a 
law,  giving  to  each  township  and  fractional  township,  for  which 
no  previous  provision  had  been  made,  school  lands  in  proportion 
to  the  size  of  the  township,  to  be  selected  in  the  respective  land 
districts,  where  the  townships  unprovided  for  were  situated. 
The  amount  of  school  lands  due  this  State  under  this  act,  was 
about  thirty  thousand  acres.  What  proportion  of  this  has 
been  selected,  I  am  unable  to  state,  but  no  selections  have 
been  made,  as  I  am  informed,  in  the  Chillicothe  land  district, 
where  a  great  number  of  these  fractional  townships  are  situ 
ated,  on  the  ground,  that  there  is  no  suitable  land  within  the 
district  subject  to  be  selected.  In  all  cases  where  suitable 
selections  can  not  be  made,  under  the  law,  within  the  land 
districts,  Congress  should  permit  the  selections  to  be  made 
from  other  government  lands  out  of  the  district.  This  is  so 
obviously  just,  that  upon  a  proper  application  to  Congress,  I 
presume  they  would  not  hesitate  to  authorize  selections  to  be 
made  from  any  government  lands  within  the  State.  I  would 
respectfully  suggest  the  policy  of  submitting  the  whole  sub 
ject  to  Congress,  at  the  present  session,  and  asking  that  body 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  173 

to  pass  a  law,  providing  for  those  fractional  townships  which 
have  been  deprived  of  school  section  sixteen,  and  to  authorize 
selections  to  be  made  under  the  act  of  Congress  of  eighteen 
hundred  and  twenty-seven,  from  any  lands  belonging  to  the 
general  government  in  the  State.  The  only  lands  owned  by  the 
United  States,  within  the  limits  of  Ohio,  that  are  considered 
of  much  value,  are  the  reserved  sections  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie,  and  Miami  Canal  giants. 
These  lands,  it  is  expected,  will  be  brought  into  market,  and 
sold  the  ensuing  year ;  and  unless  Congress  can  be  induced 
to  act  immediately  on  the  subject,  their  interference  hereafter 
can  be  of  little  use  to  the  State.  Our  school  fund,  and  the 
means  of  education,  have  been  permanently  impaired  by  that 
improvident  system  of  legislation  which  authorizes,  under  cer 
tain  circumstances,  the  sale  of  our  school  lands.  It  seems  to 
me  our  true  policy  is,  to  retain  these  lands  for  the  benevolent 
and  wise  purposes  for  which  they  were  intended,  and  to 
authorize  their  sale  in  no  case  unless  under  very  peculiar 
circumstances,  and  when  the  interest  of  our  school  fund  would 
be  obviously  promoted." 

Also,  in  the  message  of  December  8,  1840  : 

"  The  cause  of  education  and  intellectual  improvement  has 
continued  to  advance  under  our  liberal  and  enlightened  sys 
tem  of  instruction.  At  no  period  heretofore  have  our  colleges, 
academies,  and  common  schools  been  in  a  more  flourishing 
and  prosperous  condition  than  they  are  at  the  present  time. 
The  deep  solicitude  felt  by  parents  generally  to  have  their  chil 
dren  receive  a  good  education,  and  the  noble  ambition  that 
characterizes  so  many  of  our  youth  to  attain  this  desirable 
object,  can  not  fail  to  excite,  in  the  bosom  of  every  patriot 
and  friend  to  our  democratic  institutions,  well-grounded 
hopes  that  they  will  long  continue  to  shed  their  blessings  and 
benefits  on  a  great,  prosperous,  and  intelligent  people. 

"It  is  a  fact  that  can  not  be  too  often  repeated,  or  too 
deeply  impressed  on  the  minds  of  the  present  and  rising 
generation,  that  our  free  institutions  can  only  be  preserved 
and  perpetuated  by  a  virtuous,  intelligent  and  uncorrupted 
people.  The  history  of  all  free  governments  admonishes  us 
of  the  danger  to  which  public  liberty  is  most  exposed.  We 
are  differently  and  more  favorably  situated,  it  is  true,  than 
any  of  the  republics  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  Our 
population  are  scattered  over  a  wide  surface ;  engaged  on 
their  farms  and  in  their  work-shops  ;  pursuits  well  calculated 
to  promote  and  encourage  the  growth  of  that  virtue  and  love 


174:  EXECUTIVE  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

of  liberty,  the  want  of  which  has  been  so  fatal  to  the  cause 
of  free  government  in  other  countries  and  other  times.  It  is 
on  the  great  producing  classes,  which  constitute  and  ever 
must  constitute  a  large  majority  of  our  population,  that  we 
must  mainly  rely  for  the  preservation  of  our  free  institutions. 
They  are  honest,  patriotic,  and  intelligent,  and  will  so  con 
tinue  unless  the  means  of  education  are  neglected,  and  the 
onward  march  of  intellectual  improvement,  which  so  pre-em 
inently  characterizes  the  age  in  which  we  live,  should  receive 
some  great  and  unexpected  check.  Notwithstanding,  how 
ever,  our  circumstances  and  population  are  so  auspicious 
to  the  growth  and  perpetuation  of  public  liberty  and  free  gov 
ernment,  we  should  not  be  unmindful  of  the  means  by  which 
they  are  to  be  preserved  and  best  secured.  It  is  the  duty  of 
every  citizen  of  the  State  to  promote  the  cause  of  virtue  and 
encourage  the  diffusion  of  intelligence.  But  it  is  peculiarly 
the  province  of  those  who  have  been  selected  by  the  people 
to  discharge  the  important  and  highly  responsible  trust  of 
legislating  for  the  country,  to  guard  against  the  growth  of 
vice,  ignorance,  and  corruption,  by  encouraging,  by  all  proper 
means,  the  education  of  the  rising  generation,  and  thereby 
enable  them  to  enter  upon  the  important  duty  which,  in  the 
rapid  course  of  time,  will  devolve  upon  them  of  preserving 
our  free  institutions  in  their  original  simplicity  and  purity, 
and  handing  them  down,  unimpaired,  to  posterity." 

Governor  Thomas  Corwin,  in  his  first  annual  message  of 
December  7, 1841,  (he  was  inaugurated  at  the  close  of  1840,) 
thus  expressed  himself: 

"  It  is  in  times  of  profound  tranquillity,  when  the  people 
are  undisturbed  by  the  tumults  of  war,  that  the  duties  of  en 
lightened  patriotism  invite  us  to  the  grateful  task  of  giving 
depth  and  permanency  to  our  free  institutions.  It  is  only  at 
such  periods  that  a  commonwealth  can  hope  to  deliberate 
calmly  and  successfully  upon  systems  of  polity,  calculated  to 
stimulate  industry,  by  giving  it  legal  assurance  that  it  shall  be 
protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  its  acquisitions ;  to  strengthen 
general  morality,  by  laws  which  shall  tend  to  suppress  vice 
and  crime  in  all  their  forms ;  to  give  energy  and  independ 
ence  of  character  to  all  classes,  by  measures  which  will  pro 
mote,  as  far  as  practicable,  equality  of  condition,  and  thus 
establish  rational  liberty  for  ourselves,  and  give  hope  of  its 
continuance  for  ages  to  come. 

"Of  measures  which  contribute  to  these  ends,  education, 
comprehending  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  instruction,  is  of 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  175 

the  first  importance.  Under  a  Constitution  like  ours,  which 
imparts  to  every  citizen  the  same  civil  rights,  education  must 
ever  remain  a  subject  of  vital  interest,  in  reference  to  the 
general  welfare  of  the  State.  If  we  are  to  trust  the  lessons 
of  history,  we  are  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  government 
is,  and  always  has  been,  the  most  efficient  of  all  the  causes 
which  operate  in  forming  the  character  and  shaping  the  des 
tinies  of  nations.  Where  the  right  of  suffrage  is  so  unrestricted 
as  with  us,  government  is  necessarily  the  offspring  of  all  the 
people,  and  will  reflect  the  moral  and  intellectual  features  of 
its  parent,  with  unvarying  fidelity. 

"  If  the  speculations  of  the  most  profound  thinkers  had 
left  us  in  doubt  upon  this  interesting  subject,  the  familiar  his 
tory  of  the  last  century  alone  has  furnished  numerous  and 
melancholy  proofs,  that  no  people  to  whom  moral  and  intel 
lectual  culture  have  been  denied,  are  capable  of  achieving  or 
enjoying  the  blessings  of  rational  liberty,  founded  upon  any 
system  which  tolerates  popular  agency  in  the  conduct  of  pub 
lic  affairs.  So  profoundly  impressed  with  this  great  truth 
were  the  framers  of  our  Constitution,  that  they  did  not  leave 
it  to  the  judgment  of  the  future  to  decide.  They  did  not  al 
low  the  subject  of  education  to  remain  in  that  class  which 
might  be,  in  after  times,  adopted  or  rejected  upon  the  doubt 
ful  test  of  expediency.  They  incorporated  it  into  the  Consti 
tution.  In  the  third  section  of  the  eighth  article  of  the  Con 
stitution,  it  is  expressly  declared  that  'religion,  morality,  and 
knowledge,  being  essentially  necessary  to  good  government 
and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  in 
struction  shall  forever  be  encouraged  ~by  legislative  provision, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  conscience.'  In  the  schools, 
the  encouragement  of  which  is  thus  enjoined  as  a  proper  sub 
ject  of  legislative  provision,  it  is  apparent  that  the  makers  of 
the  Constitution  intended  to  combine  moral  with  intellectual 
instruction.  All  experience  and  observation  of  man's  nature 
have  shown  that  merely  intellectual  improvement  is  but  a 
small  advance  in  the  accomplishment  of  a  proper  civilization. 
Without  morals,  civilization  only  displays  energy,  and  that 
the  more  fearful  in  its  powers  and  purposes  as  it  wants  the 
restraining  and  softening  influences  which  alone  give  it  a 
direction  to  objects  of  utility  or  benevolence. 

"  The  object  in  view,  when  our  present  system  of  common 
schools  was  established  by  law,  was,  doubtless,  the  same  em 
braced  by  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  As  the  habits 
and  opinions  of  our  population  touching  the  subject,  were 
exceedingly  diverse,  the  system  worked  its  way  to  favor  in 


176  EXECUTIVE   BECOMMENDATION8. 

the  public  rnind,  under  auspices  by  no  means  favorable. 
Hitherto,  however,  it  has  met  with  little  opposition  in  any 
quarter,  and  may  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  permanent 
policy  of  the  State.  While,  therefore,  it  would  be  both  un 
wise  and  impracticable  to  attempt  any  radical  change,  it  is 
obvious  that  experience  will,  from  time  to  time,  suggest  im 
provements.  The  law  formerly  provided  a  Superintendent, 
with  powers  of  general  supervision  of  the  schools  throughout 
the  State.  This  officer  has  been  dispensed  with,  and  his  du 
ties  transferred  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  The  time  of  this 
officer  and  his  attention,  it  is  obvious,  will  generally  be 
mainly  employed  in  the  proper  duties  of  Secretary  of  State. 
I  submit  to  the  Legislature  whether  it  is  not  proper,  even  in 
a  pecuniary  view,  to  devolve  the  duties  of  general  Superin 
tendent  of  Common  Schools  upon  one,  whose  exclusive  busi 
ness  it  shall  be  to  discharge  them.  This  officer  should  be  at 
liberty  to  visit  the  schools  at  different  points  in  the  State,  to 
collect  and  report,  to  each  successive  Legislature,  ample  and 
accurate  statistical  facts,  by  which  the  system  can  be  thor 
oughly  understood  and  vigorously  enforced.  The  reports 
from  the  county  Auditors,  required  by  the  present  law,  in 
some  instances,  are  not  made  at  all ;  and  in  those  instances 
where  there  has  been  an  effort  to  comply  with  the  law,  the 
information  given  generally  embraces  only  a  small  portion  of 
those  facts,  which  it  is  most  necessary  should  be  known  to  the 
Superintendent  as  well  as  to  the  Legislature.  I  earnestly 
recommend  legislative  provision,  by  which  this  branch  of 
the  system  may  be  more  satisfactorily  administered  in 
iuture." 

On  retiring  from  office,  Governor  Corwin,  in  his  message 
of  December  6,  18-±2,  observed : 

"  Speculative  writers  on  the  nature  and  proper  elements  of 
free  government,  have  agreed  that  civil  rights  and  political 
power  can  only  be  safely  extended  to  the  masses  of  any  peo 
ple,  when  general  intelligence  and  pure  morality  have  been 
widely  diffused  and  exert  a  controlling  influence.  The  unsuc 
cessful  efforts  of  men  in  past  ages,  to  assert  and  maintain 
equal  rights,  all  concur  in  furnishing  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
this  great  principle  in  the  science  of  government.  In  Ohio, 
every  citizen  who  has  attained  to  majority,  after  a  short  resi 
dence  in  the  State,  and  who  has  been  charged  with,  or  paid 
taxes,  is  armed  with  the  right  of  suffrage.  Our  fundamental 
law,  therefore,  and  the  general  legislation  of  the  State,  have 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  177 

all  been  made  to  wear  the  same  aspect ;  they  each  regard  all 
men  as  equal,  and  seek  to  extend  to  all  an  equal  amount  of 
power  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs.  In  such  a  system  it 
must  be  obvious,  that  education,  combining  both  moral  and 
intellectual  culture,  is  a  matter  of  primary  public  interest.  It 
is  with  us  not  merely  the  ornament  of  our  political  edifice,  it 
is  the  foundation  on  which  it  stands,  and  without  which  it 
must  crumble  into  ruins,  and  crush  in  its  fall  those  who,  in  a 
false  and  fatal  security,  have  taken  up  their  abode  within  it. 
"In  a  former  communication  I  have  had  occasion  to  urge 
upon  the  Legislature  the  necessity  of  maintaining,  in  full 
vigor,  the  school  system  now  in  force,  and  of  improving  it  by 
every  means  which  experience  may  from  time  to  time  sug 
gest.  Any  act  which  wears  the  appearance  of  weakening,  or 
looks  to  the  future  abandonment  of  it,  must  be  considered  as 
a  blow  aimed  at  a  system  of  policy,  which  all  enlightened 
men  of  modern  times  regard  as  of  vital  importance.  By  an 
act  of  the  last  session,  the  school  fund  was  reduced  by  an 
amount  of  about  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  necessity,  real 
or  imagined,  for  the  reduction  of  such  a  fund,  is  greatly  to  be 
•deplored.  Heavy  as  the  taxes  now  are,  I  can  not  doubt  but 
the  people  of  the  State  would  have  cheerfully  paid  the  amount 
thus  taken  off,  knowing  that  their  children  were  thereby  to  be 
fitted  for  the  proper  exercise  of  the  great  powers  and  priv 
ileges  of  American  freemen.  If  the  present  rates  of  taxation 
should  be  reduced,  I  earnestly  recommend  that  such  reduction 
may  be  made  to  fall  on  other  objects,  many  of  which  will 
readily  suggest  themselves  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature, 
as  interests  which  may  safely  be  postponed  to  that  of  general 
education.  It  is  by  educating  poor  children,  wherever  they 
may  be  found,  that  we  place  them,  to  some  extent,  at  least, 
upon  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  fortunate  inheritors  of 
rich  estates.  It  is,  of  all  agencies  yet  discovered,  the  most 
efficient  in  producing  that  perfect  and  just  equality  among 
men,  which  brings  harmony  into  the  social  system,  and  gives 
permanency  to  free  government." 

Governor  Wilson  Shannon,  in  his  annual  message  of  De 
cember  5,  1843,  said : 

"  Our  common  school  system  has  taken  a  strong,  and,  I 
trust,  a  permanent  hold  on  the  public  mind.  Its  advantages 
and  blessings  are  beginning  to  be  duly  appreciated  by  all  our 
citizens.  Opposition  to  it  has,  in  a  great  measure,  ceased. 
Time  has  given  to  it  form  and  permanency,  and  its  existence, 

12 


178  EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

as  a  part  of  the  settled  policy  of  the  State,  we  confidently 
believe,  will  continue  so  long  as  our  republican  institutions 
are  cherished  and  held  up  by  a  free  people. 

"  It  is  not,  however,  all  we  should  desire  it  to  be.  We 
should  aim  to  improve  our  common  schools,  and  give  to  them 
the  capacity  of  imparting  a  more  enlarged  and  liberal  educa 
tion  ;  we  should  seek  to  elevate  the  grade  of  public  instruction 
so  as  to  be  in  unison  with  the  progressive  spirit  which  is  now 
animating  the  civilized  world.  The  education  of  the  rising 
youth  of  our  country,  thus  qualifying  them  for  self-government 
and  the  maintenance  of  free  institutions,  is  an  object  which 
commends  itself  to  the  fostering  care  of  every  American 
statesman  and  patriot." 

Governor  Shannon  having  resigned  on  the  15th  of  April, 
1844,  was  succeeded  by  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  Thomas 
W.  Bartley.  Governor  Bartley,  in  his  message  of  December 
3d,  said : 

"  The  most  certain  reliance  for  the  security  and  permanency 
of  our  civil  institutions,  is  to  be  found  in  an  efficient  and 
well  conducted  system  of  common  schools,  by  which  the 
benefits  of  education  can,  upon  liberal  terms,  be  placed  within 
the  reach  of  every  person  of  suitable  age  in  the  State. 
Every  citizen  is  entitled  to  a  voice  in  the  management  of  our 
public  affairs.  Our  laws  are  but  the  emanation  of  popular 
opinion.  It  is  a  matter,  therefore,  of  vital  importance,  that 
popular  opinion  should  be  aided  and  enlightened  by  intel 
lectual  culture,  and  molded  and  directed  by  a  pure  and 
elevated  tone  of  moral  feeling.  The  European  systems  of 
education  confine  the  means  of  instruction  chiefly  to  the 
favored  and  fortunate  classes,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  mass 
of  the  people,  and  thus  keep  up  and  augment  those  artificial 
and  arbitrary  distinctions  in  society  which  constitute  one 
great  source  of  the  oppression  and  degradation  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people.  The  youth  of  this  country  are  born  to 
nobler  privileges  and  higher  responsibilities.  The  very 
genius  and  spirit  of  our  institutions  require  that  a  public  sys 
tem  of  instruction  should  be  kept  open  and  free  to  all ;  placing 
llm«'  in  tin-  most  humble  walks  of  life  upon  the  same  platform 
and  equal  footing  with  those  who  are  in  more  fortunate  circum 
stances  ;  elevating  the  intellectual,  moral  and  social  condition 
of  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  perpetuating  that  degree 
of  moral,  intellectual  and  social  equality,  which  is  essential 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  179 

alike  to  the  permanency  of  our  government,  and  the  hap 
piness  of  our  people. 

"  The  great  conservative  influence  of  a  public  system  of 
education  on  the  future  destiny  of  our  country,  was  fully 
appreciated  by  the  eminent  statesman  who  framed  the  first 
elements  of  our  civil  institutions.  It  was  provided  in  the 
ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  government  of  the  territory  north 
west  of  the  Ohio  river,  that  '  religion,  morality,  and  knowl 
edge,  being  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness 
of  mankind,  schools,  and  the  means  of  education,  shall 
forever  be  encouraged.'  In  the  organization  of  our  State 
government,  this  provision  was,  in  substance,  copied  into  the 
bill  of  rights,  and  now  constitutes  a  part  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  State,  imperatively  enjoining  upon  the  Representatives 
of  the  people,  that  k  schools,  and  the  means  of  instruction 
should  forever  be  encouraged  by  legislative  provision,  where 
not  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  conscience.'  The  subject 
of  education  has  been  urged  upon  the  consideration  of  the 
Legislature  in  almost  every  annual  message  of  the  Governor 
since  the  origin  of  the  State  Government.  The  solemn 
injunctions  ot"  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  State,  which  it 
is  our  sworn  duty  to  support,  and  the  wrarning  voice  of  every 
successive  supreme  executive  officer  of  the  State,  ought  not 
to  be  treated  as  mere  ceremonious  formula,  entitled  to  but 
slight  and  superficial  attention.  They  are  the  authoritative 
and  living  promulgations  of  public  sentiment,  expressed 
in  characters  as  visible  and  impressive  as  if  written  in  stars 
on  the  arch  of  the  firmament. 

"  To  the  mode  of  instruction,  discipline,  and  training, 
given  to  the  juvenile  portion  of  our  population,  we  are  to 
look  for  the  model  of  the  future  character  of  our  people,  and 
the  elements  which  will  control  the  future  destiny  of  our 
republic.  It  is  to  this  source  that  we  are  to  look  for  the 
formation  of  that  elevated  standard  of  intellectual  superiority, 
moral  excellence,  and  public  virtue,  which  shall  preserve  our 
country  from  ignorance  and  superstition,  stay  the  tide  of 
corruption  usually  flowing  from  a  dense  population,  and 
rescue  our  posterity  from  the  intellectual  and  physical  degen 
eracy  so  commonly  produced  by  luxury  and  its  enervations, 
after  a  continuance  of  national  prosperity. 

"  The  system  of  common  schools  in  this  State,  although 
productive  of  much  benefit,  and  in  its  general  provisions  well 
adapted  to  the  accomplishment  of  its  objects,  is  yet  sus 
ceptible  of  very  great  improvements.  The  tact  can  not  escape 
the  most  superficial  observation,  that  great  inefficiency  and 


180  EXECUTIVE    RECOMMENDATIONS. 

want  of  energy  exist  in  its  execution  and  management,  and 
that  during  the  last  two  or  three  years  it  has  been  retro 
grading,  instead  of  progressing  toward  a  higher  degree  of 
perfection.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  if  our  system 
of  common  school  instruction  were  conducted  with  proper 
efficiency,  and  under  the  improved  regulations  and  modes  of 
teaching  at  this  time  in  use  in  some  other  places,  greater 
benefits  would  be  derived  from  half  the  present  expenditure 
of  time  and  money.  The  Secretary  of  State,  and  several 
county  Auditors,  to  whom  the  general  superintendence  of  our 
common  school  system  is  at  present  intrusted,  have  doubt 
less  performed  their  respective  duties  with  fidelity,  and  done 
all  which  could  reasonably  be  expected  from  them  ;  but  their 
time  and  attention  has  been  chiefly  occupied  by  the  other  and 
more  appropriate  duties  of  their  offices.  I  submit  to  your 
consideration  the  propriety  of  appointing  a  State  Superin 
tendent  of  Common  Schools,  and  of  authorizing  the  election 
of  a  county  Superintendent,  by  the  people  of  each  county,  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  greater  efficiency  to  the  system,  by 
having  the  exclusive  attention  of  the  Superintendents  devoted 
to  the  management  and  improvement  of  this  important  branch 
of  the  public  service.  I  entertain  no  doubt  but  that  the  ap 
pointment  of  these  officers,  and  the  payment  of  competent 
salaries  for  them  out  of  the  school  funds,  will  prove  a  matter 
of  economy  in  the  management  of  the  school  funds,  for  the  cause 
of  education.  A  great  want  of  punctuality  has  existed  in  the 
reports  of  information  required  by  law  to  be  made  from  the 
several  school  districts  and  townships.  This  neglect  of  duty 
might  be  effectually  remedied,  by  a  provision  requiring  the 
necessary  reports  to  be  made,  before  a  school  district  or 
township  should  be  permitted  to  draw  its  proportion  of  the 
public  money. 

u  The  subject  of  normal  schools  or  seminaries  for  the  edu 
cation  of  teachers,  is  attracting  much  attention  in  several  of 
the  States  of  the  Union,  and  in  other  countries  ;  and  by  the 
pre-eminent  advantages  afforded  by  this  means  for  ad 
vancing  the  cause  of  education,  it  commends  itself  to  your 
favorable  consideration.  Departments  for  the  education  of 
professional  teachers,  in  the  Ohio  and  Miami  Universities, 
could  be  established  under  the  authority  of  the  State,  and  by 
a  part  of  the  means  derived  from  the  large  endowments 
which  these  institutions  have  received  from  the  government. 

a  The  following  statement  will  show  the  product  of  the 
State  common  school  fund,  for  the  year  ending  15th  No 
vember,  1844: 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  181 

Balance  on  the  15th  November,  1843, $40,132  47. 

Amount   received   arising   from  interest  on  surplus 

revenue,  grand  levy,  tax  on  banks,  etc 195,600  69. 


Total 235,733  16. 

Amount  apportioned  and  paid  the  several  counties, . .  200,000  00. 

Remaining  balance  in  treasury, 35,733  16. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  there  has  been  paid  to  coun 
ties  entitled  to  the  following  funds  : 

Virginia  Military  school  fund, 11,718  67. 

United  States  military  school  fund, 7,149  76. 

Connecticut  Western  Reserve  school  fund, 9,519  54. 

Section  sixteen, 56,133  90. 


$84,521  89. 

'  This  amount  has  been  drawn  from  the  canal  fund,  being 
the  interest  on  the  principal  of  each  fund." 

Governor  Mordecai  Bartley,  in  his  Inaugural  Address  of 
December  3,  1844,  observed : 

"  The  first  and  most  important  of  all  political  measures  of 
a  republican  government,  is  to  quicken,  strengthen,  and  edu 
cate  the  youthful  public  mind.  Where  the  elective  franchise 
is  almost  universal,  it  is  indispensable  that  the  mass  of  the 
people  be  instructed  in  moral  and  political  science. 

"  On  this  point,  argument  is  unnecessary,  since  it  is  uni 
versally  admitted,  that  the  perpetuity  of  our  political  institu 
tions  depends,  under  God,  upon  the  diffusion  of  sound 
education.  An  uninformed  people,  with  the  best  constitu 
tion,  are  as  unstable  as  the  sea,  and  utterly  incapable  of 
fixing  any  safe  and  settled  policy,  but  are  destined  to  be  the 
dupes  of  the  reckless  and  designing,  and  after  unsuccessful 
efforts  at  self-government,  to  surrender  their  liberties. 

"  The  wise  framers  of  our  excellent  Constitution  were 
careful  to  lay  in  that  instrument  the  basis  of  a  system  of 
public  instruction ;  and  ever  since  the  organization  of  the 
State  Government,  the  Legislature  has  given  more  or  less 
attention  to  the  subject.  Although  I  would  propose  no  radi 
cal  change  in  the  present  school  law,  yet  I  humbly  conceive 
that  experience  has  shown  that  it  is  not  incapable  of  improve 
ment  ;  and  I  submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature, 
whether  it  ought  not  at  this  time  to  undergo  revision ; 
whether  alterations  are  not  demanded,  to  elevate  the  char 
acter  of  the  school-teacher ;  to  secure  such  a  uniformity  of 
school-books  as  is  not  incompatible  with  the  progress  of  im 
provement  in  the  art  of ;  instruction ;  to  widen  the  sphere 


182  EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

of  common  school  education,  so  that  it  may  embrace,  not 
only  the  elements  of  that  knowledge  which  is  essential  to  the 
ordinary  intercourse  and  business  of  the  humblest  walks  of 
civilized  life,  but  also  the  rudiments  of  moral  and  political 
science  ;  to  provide  fur  a  more  strict  accountability  of  Direc 
tors,  Examiners,  and  all  other  officers  acting  under  the  law  ; 
and  for  the  appointment  of  a  General  Superintendent  of 
Instruction." 

•  In  his  first  annual  message,  December  2,  1845,  Governor 
Bartley  said : 

"  The  subject  of  education  has  been  so  often  brought  to  the 
consideration  of  the  Legislature,  that  I  need  scarcely  do  more 
than  call  your  attention  to  former  Executive  communications. 
The  importance  of  a  liberal  and  thorough  system  of  educa 
tion  can  not  be  too  highly  estimated.  The  future  character 
of  our  people,  and  the  future  destiny  of  our  free  institutions, 
are  in  no  small  degree  dependent  upon  it.  It  is,  perhaps,  a 
matter  of  no  little  surprise,  that  hitherto  subjects  of  mere 
temporary  and  comparatively  inconsiderable  interest,  have 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  Legislature,  to  the  great  neglect 
of  a  subject  of  such  immense  importance  as  this,  not  only  to 
the  great  body  of  the  people  at  the  present  period,  but  also  to 
future  generations.  It  is  true  that  much  has  already  been  ef 
fected,  by  our  present  system  of  common  schools.  But  even 
a  superficial  observer  must  admit  that  it  is  very  deficient, 
and,  for  want  of  energy  and  efficiency,  has  utterly  failed  to 
meet  the  expectations  of  its  friends.  The  example  of  other 
States  has  taught  us,  that  it  is  within  the  power  of  the  Legis 
lature  to  adopt  measures  which  will  bring  the  system  of  com 
mon  schools  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 

u  I  respectfully  commend  to  your  consideration  the  expe 
diency  of  establishing  a  State  Board  of  Education,  and  the 
appointment  of  a  competent  and  suitable  person  as  a  State 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  ;  and  also,  the  adoption 
of  measures  that  will  give  more  energy  and  efficiency  to  the 
county  and  school  district  supervision,  and  management  of 
the  system.  Among  the  liberal  and  enlightened  persons  in 
Ohio,  who  entertain  enlarged  views,  and  are  eminent  for  tlu-ir 
benevolence  and  their  regard  for  the  cause  of  education,  can 
be  easily  found  persons  who  will  faithfully  discharge  all  the 
duties  which  can  appropriately  be  enjoined  upon  a  State 
Board,  without  any  charge  for  their  services.  In  a  mattei, 
however,  of  such  magnitude  and  enduring  public  interest,  as 
that  of  improving  the  means  of  common  school  education, 


EXECUTIVE   BECOMMENDATIONS.  183 

neither  pecuniary  considerations,  nor  party  feelings,  nor  local 
or  sectional  views,  should  be  permitted  to  interfere.  While 
thousands  and  millions  are  annually  expended  to  minister  to 
the  taste,  vanity  and  pride  of  mankind,  the  appropriation  of 
the  comparatively  small  sum  requisite  for  improving  and  per 
fecting  the  means  of  cultivating  the  intellect,  and  training  the 
virtues  of  the  youth  of  the  State,  can  certainly  be  no  obstacle 
in  the  way.  By  the  means  suggested,  I  humbly  conceive 
that  great  public  interest  can  be  awakened  among  the  people 
of  the  State  on  the  subject  of  education,  the  necessary  dis 
cipline  adopted  and  put  into  practice,  information  on  the  sub 
ject  of  the  best  and  most  improved  methods  of  instruction 
procured  and  furnished  to  every  school  district,  the  compe 
tency  of  instructors  greatly  improved,  and  the  system  brought 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 

"  The  Miami  University,  at  Oxford,  and  the  Ohio  Univer 
sity,  at  Athens,  are  institutions  which  have  been  in  a  manner 
placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  State,  and  richly  en 
dowed  by  extensive  donations  of  land  from  the  General  Gov 
ernment.  The  former  is  in  a  prosperous  condition,  and  is 
accomplishing  the  useful  purposes  of  its  institution.  But  the 
Ohio  University,  on  account  of  pecuniary  embarrassment 
and  other  causes,  not,  perhaps,  very  well  understood,  has  par 
tially  suspended  operations.  The  difficulties  in  the  manage 
ment  of  this  institution  are  of  some  standing ;  and  for  some 
years  it  has  bean  failing  to  accomplish  the  high  objects  of  its 
creation.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  difficulties  which  have 
blighted  its  prosperity,  have  had  their  origin  in  the  fact,  that 
the  interests  of  the  lessees  of  the  college  lands  in  the  midst 
of  which  the  University  is  located,  have  conflicted  with  the 
prosperity  of  the  institution.  I  earnestly  commend  the  con 
dition  of  this  institution  to  your  consideration,  in  order  that 
you  may  inquire  into  the  causes  of  its  failure,  and  devise  a 
remedy  for  the  evil." 

In  his  last  annual  message,  December  8,  1846,  Governor 
Bartley  said : 

"  The  cause  of  education,  combining  both  moral  and  intel 
lectual  culture,  has  been  a  matter  of  primary  interest  in  Ohio 
since  the  first  foundation  of  the  State  Government ;  and  no 
subject  can  be  of  more  lasting  and  vital  importance  to  a  free 
people.  A  system  of  education  has  been  very  properly 
looked  upon  as  not  merely  an  ornament  of  our  political  edi 
fice,  but  also  as  the  foundation  on  which  it  rests,  and  the  rock 
of  its  future  safety.  The  importance  of  the  subject,  however, 


184  EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

and  the  zeal  with  which  it  has  been  espoused,  have  not  fully 
overcome,  as  yet,  the  deep-rooted  prejudices  of  some  portions 
of  our  people  against  the  measures  necessary  for  the  improve 
ment  of  the  system.  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  our  school  sys 
tem  is  yet  so  inefficient  in  its  operations,  and  that  our  com 
mon  school  mnd,  that  source  of  just  pride  to  the  people  of  the 
State,  is  expended  every  year  with  less  than  half  the  advan 
tages  to  the  youth  of  the  State  which  ought  to  be  derived 
from  it.  There  is  a  general  want  of  energy,  efficiency,  and 
discipline  in  the  system.  In  a  former  communication  I  had 
occasion  to  urge  upon  the  General  Assembly  the  means 
di'i'ined  essential  for  the  forth  or  improvement  of  this  system 
of  education,  to  which  I  respectfully  refer  you. 

"  The  following  statement  shows  the  condition  of  the  school 
fund  for  the  year  1846: 

Common  school  fund  received,  being  proceeds  of  taxes  $69,582  39. 
Auction  duties  and  peddlers'  licenses  .............       5,812  11. 

Tax  on  lawyers  and  physicians  ..................       4,909  21. 

Banks,  insurance,  and  bridge  companies  ...........      28,844  15. 

Surplus  revenue  interest,  five  per  cent  ............     91,208 

Whole  amount  received  during  the  year  ..........  $200,516 

Balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  15th  Nov.,  1846  ----     31,775 


Total  ........................  $232,292  24. 

Balance  of  common  school  fund  in  the   treasury, 

Nov.  15,  1846  ..............................      32,292  24. 


Paid  out  and  distributed  among  the  counties  of  the 

State 200,000  00. 

Interest  paid  upon  the  Virginia  and  United  States 
military  school  fund,  Western  Reserve  school  fund, 
ministerial  fund,  and  other  trust  funds 88,450  00. 


Total  amount  paid  out  of  State  treasury  for  support  of 
schools  and  religious  purposes,  etc $288,450  79. 

Governor  "Win.  Bebb,  in  his  Inaugural  Address  of  Decem 
ber  12,  1846,  invoked  the  General  Assembly  as  follows : 

"  Let  her  colleges,  asylums,  and  schools  continue  to  receive 
at  your  hands  such  consideration  and  support  as  their  great 
importance  demands,  and  I  especially  recommend  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools." 

Governor  Bebb,  in  his  annual  message  of  December  6, 
1847,  after  stating  that  the  disbursement  by  the  State,  for  the 
support  of  common  schools  was  $201,319.31,  added: 

"It  is  a  matter  of  rejoicing  to  every  lover  of  enlighten- 


EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS.  185 

ment  and  freedom,  that  the  cause  of  education,  in  all  its  de 
partments,  was  never  more  prosperous  than  during  the  past 
year.  The  common  school  system  is  firmly  established  in  the 
habits  and  affections  of  the  people,  and  though  falling,  in 
many  things,  short  of  the  hopes  of  the  patriot  and  philanthro 
pist,  fully  partakes  of  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age,  and 
will  not,  in  the  end,  fall  short  of  its  high  destiny,  the  uni 
versal  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge.  It  needs  no  recom 
mendation  of  mine  to  command  your  cordial  and  continued 
support." 

Governor  Seabury  Ford,  in  his  Inaugural  Address  of  Jan 
uary  22,  1849,  remarked: 

"History  and  example  teach  that  a  republican  government, 
depending  as  it  does  upon  the  will  of  the  people,  can  only  be 
maintained  where  information  and  knowledge  are  generally 
diffused.  Impressed  with  this  truth,  the  framers  of  the  Con 
stitution  declare  in  that  instrument,  that  'schools,  and  the 
means  of  instruction  shall  forever  be  encouraged  by  legis 
lative  provision.' 

"Considering  the  age  of  our  State,  much  has  been  already 
done  in  obedience  to  this  requirement  of  the  Constitution. 
But  much  more  remains  to  be  done  before  our  system  of  edu 
cation  will  become  as  perfect  as  its  importance  demands.  In 
the  administration  of  our  school  law,  a  greater  number  of 
persons  are  engaged  than  in  the  administration  of  any  other 
law  upon  our  statute  book;  it  should,  therefore,  be  plain, 
explicit,  and  easy  to  be  understood.  The  acts  now  constitut 
ing  our  system  of  common  schools,  are  scattered  through  the 
different  volumes  of  the  statutes ;  sections  and  parts  of  sec 
tions  changed,  altered,  and  repealed,  until  it  is  no  easy  mat 
ter,  even  for  a  skillful  lawyer,  to  ascertain  what  the  law  is. 
I  would,  therefore,  recommend  to  the  Legislature  a  revision 
of  these  laws,  so  that  the  whole  subject  of  common  school 
education  may  be  embraced  in  a  single  statute." 

The  foregoing  suggestion  was  renewed  by  Governor  Ford, 
in  his  annual  message  of  December  31,  1849  : 

"  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  present  arguments  to  the  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  sh'ow  the 
necessity  of  sustaining  and  encouraging  a  uniform  and  gen  • 
eral  system  of  common  school  education.  Its  paramount 
importance  is  uniformly  felt  and  acknowledged  by  all  our  cit 
izens.  Upon  the  right  education  of  the  rising  generation, 


186  EXECUTIVE   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

and  the  universal  dissemination  of  knowledge,  mainly  de 
pends  the  permanent  existence  of  our  free  institutions. 

"It  is  nearly  twelve  years  since  the  principal  law  now  in 
force  on  that  subject,  was  enacted.  It,  like  most  important 
laws,  had  its  delects,  and  has  since  gone  through  such  a  vari 
ety  of  changes  and  amendments,  that  it  requires  more  than 
ordinary  skill  to  ascertain  what  the  law  is  upon  any  point 
which  may  be  brought  in  question.  Many  portions  of  it, 
and  more  particularly  that  portion  relating  to  the  raising  of 
taxes  for  various  purposes,  and  the  supporting  of  schools  be 
yond  the  means  supplied  by  the  various  school  funds,  is  a 
fruitful  source  of  trouble  in  the  districts,  and  a  general  cause 
of  complaint  against  the  system.  I  would  recommend  to 
your  consideration,  the  propriety  of  a  thorough  revision  of 
all  the  laws  upon  the  subject." 

In  his  last  annual  message,  Governor  Ford  reiterated  his 
recommendation  of  a  revision  of  the  school  system  : 

"  History  and  experience  will  attest  the  fact,  that  where 
science,  general  knowledge,  and  moral  cultivation  are  most 
universally  diffused  among  the  people,  there  liberty  is  the 
most  cherished,  the  rights  of  persons  and  property  are  the 
most  safev  Virtue  and  religion,  and  whatever  else  can  adorn 
society  and  render  mankind  prosperous  and  happy,  are  held 
most  sacred.  To  extend  and  secure  to  coining  generations 
the  benefits  of  liberty  and  well  regulated  free  institutions,  it  ia 
necessary  for  the  statesman  to  look  with  earnest  care  to  the 
means  of  instruction  for  the  youth  of  the  country;  for  by 
them  he  may  shape  the  destinies  of  the  State  and  the  nation 
for  good  or  for  evil  through  succeeding  ages. 

"An  efficient  system  of  common  schools,  thoroughly  exe 
cuted,  is  the  only  means  of  attaining  this  desirable  object. 
Under  our  present  law  on  this  subject,  much  has  been  done ; 
but  the  law  is  imperfect.  The  law  which  now  professes  to 
regulate  this  system  has  been  in  force  for  many  years.  It 
has  undergone  many  alterations,  is  printed  in  many  different 
volumes  of  the  statutes,  and  is  thus  made  difficult  to  be 
found,  and  still  more  difficult  to  be  understood  by  the  great 
majority  of  persons  whose  duty  it  professes  to  point  out. 
That  portion  which  relates  to  forming  and  altering  districts 
from  two  or  more  townships,  and  the  portion  providing  for 
fixing  sites  and  levying  taxes  for  building  and  repairing 
school-houses,  and  the  supporting  of  schools  beyond  the 
means  supplied  by  the  various  school  funds,  is  obscure 
and  of  uncertain  import,  the  cause  of  much  serious  complaint 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  187 

and  trouble,  and  begets  much  dislike  to  the  whole  sys 
tem.  I  would  recommend  to  your  consideration  the  propriety 
of  a  thorough  revision  of  all  the  statutes  on  the  subject,  so  as 
to  make  them  plain  to  all,  and  effectual  to  the  accomplish 
ment  of  the  objects  desired." 

The  new  Constitution  took  effect  September  1,  1851.  The 
provisions  of  that  instrument,  and  the  legislation  under  it,  are 
reserved  for  consideration  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

ABSTRACT  OF  SCHOOL  LEGISLATION  FROM  1831  TO  1851. 

THE  struggle  with  the  wilderness,  and  the  exposures  of  a 
remote  frontier,  engrossed  the  first  generation  of  the  people 
of  Ohio,  although  the  incorporation  of  libraries  and  schools, 
from  time  to  time,  indicated  the  intellectual  bias  of  the  rising 
community ;  but  the  legislation  of  1821,  providing  for  the 
erection  of  school  districts,  the  election  of  school  committees, 
and  local  taxation  for  school  purposes,  and  that  of  1825,  im 
posing  a  general  tax  of  half  a  mill,  which  was  raised  to  three- 
fourths  of  a  mill  in  1829,  introduced  a  new  era  in  the  history 
of  the  State.  During  the  next  twenty  years,  legislation  accu 
mulated  with  great  rapidity,  often  producing  no  slight  degree 
of  confusion.  For  the  purpose  of  clearness,  these  laws  will 
not  be  considered,  except  in  connection  with  the  general  fea 
tures  of  the  system,  as  established  by  their  provisions  : 

SUPERINTENDENCE. 

The  office  of  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  was 
created  by  an  act  passed  March  27, 1837 — at  first  for  the  term 
of  one  year,  but  afterward  by  the  act  of  March  7,  1838,  for 
the  term  of  five  years.  %  Samuel  Lewis  was  the  incumbent  for 


188  ABSTRACT   OP   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

three  years  when  he  declined  further  service,  and  by  the  act 
of  March  23,  1810,  the  office  was  abolished,  and  its  duties 
devolved  upon  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  duties  of  Superintendent,  as  fully  defined  in  the  law 
of  1838,  were, 

1.  To  collect  and  report  annually  to  the  Legislature,  infor 
mation  upon  the  common  schools  of  the  State,  especially  the 
whole  number  of  children  and  their  attendance  at  school ;  the 
number,  quality,  and  duration  of  schools ;  the  qualifications 
of  teachers,  and  the  amount  paid  for  their  wages ;  the  num 
ber  of  school-houses  and  the  expenditure  therefor  ;  the  sources 
and  condition  of  school  funds  ;  and  whatever  else  he  might 
suppose  the  public  interest  required. 

2.  To  ascertain  and  report  the  condition  and  value  of  all 
the  school  lands  in  the  State,  with  the  amount  of  the  different 
school  funds  due  to  each  township  from  lands  or  interest ;  and 
to  secure  the  immediate  location  of  school  lands  as  authorized 
by  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  May  20, 1826,  entitled  "  an  act 
to  appropriate  lauds  for  the  support  of  schools  in  certain 
townships  and  fractional  townships  not  before  provided  for." 

3.  To  furnish  suitable  forms  to  school  officers  and  teachers 
for  all  returns  and  registers  required  by  law,  and  to  deliver,  on 
the  15th  of  December  annually,  to  the  Auditor  of  State,  an 
enumeration  of  all  the  white  children  between  the  age  of  four 
and  twenty-one  years,  to  serve  as  the  basis  of  the  apportion 
ment  of  school  funds  according  to  law. 

4.  To  take  an  account  of  all  funds  and  property  given  in 
any  way  for  the  support  of  education,  and  report  the  same 
annually  to  the  Legislature ;  and  for  this  purpose,  to  exercise 
all  needful  rights  of  visitation,  and  to  summon  the  interpo 
sition  of  the  Prosecuting  Attorneys  of  the  counties. 

5.  To  publish  bi-monthly  during  the  year  1838-9,  an 
official  school  journal,  called   the   "Ohio  Common  School 
Director.'' 

the  salary  of  the  Superintendent  was  fixed  at  $1,200, 
with  the  use  of  an  office,  etc.,  and  the  right  to  employ  -ft 
clerk,  when  the  business  of  his  office  re-quired  it. 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  189 

The  activity  and  zeal  of  Mr.  Lewis,  enforced  by  a  remarka 
ble  eloquence,  were  very  instrumental  in  arousing  public 
interest  in  the  cause  of  education.  By  his  influence  the 
sacrifice  of  section  sixteen  under  the  legislation  of  1827,  for 
the  surrender  of  permanent  leases,  subject  to  re-valuation, 
was  arrested,  thereby  saving  to  the  school  funds  of  the  State, 
one  hundred-fold  the  expense  of  the  office  of  Superintendent. 
During  his  administration,  a  very  efficient  revision  of  the 
school  law  was  effected,  and  the  act  of  March  7,  1838,  con 
stituted  the  main  body  of  legislation  prior  to  the  law  of  1853. 

The  three  annual  reports  of  Mr.  Lewis  were  an  auspicious 
commencement  of  that  series  of  documents.  They  were  fol 
lowed  during  the  period  in  question,  by  the  report  of  William 
Trevitt,  Secretary  of  State,  in  1841 ;  by  three  reports  from  J. 
Sloane ;  by  six  from  Samuel  Galloway,  and  two  from  Henry 
W.  King.  Of  these  communications,  that  of  Mr.  Trevitt, 
among  other  valuable  suggestions,  urged  a  system  of  normal 
schools.  Mr.  Sloane  advocated  earnestly  a  system  of  school 
libraries,  as  did  all  his  predecessors  and  successors;  Mr. 
Galloway  contributed  a  succession  of  powerful  and  eloquent 
appeals  in  behalf  of  all  the  educational  reforms  of  the  day ; 
and  Mr.  King  aided  materially  the  revision  of  the  school 
laws  by  his  clear  and  laborious  summons  of  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  in  regard  to  schools.  None  of  them  failed,  howeyer^ 
to  urge  the  organization  of  an  Executive  Department  of  Public 
Instruction,  distinct  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State. 

At  one  period  the  necessity  for  some  further  supervision  was 
recognized  by  the  General  Assembly.  An  act  for  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  State  Board  of  Public  Instruction  was  passed  on 
the  22d  of  March,  1850,  but  so'  late  in  the  session,  that  no 
appointments  were  .made  by  the  Legislature  at  that  session, 
as  prescribed  \>y  the  act ;  and  hence  it  became  inoperative. 
This  act  provided  for  a  Board,  to  consist  of  five  members,  to 
hold  their  offices  for  one,  two,  three,  four,  and  five  years  res 
pectively  ;  one  to  be  styled  the  State  Superintendent  of  Com 
mon  Schools,  to  act  as  Chairman  of  the  Board,  reside,  and 
keep  his  office  at  the  seat  of  Government,  and  perform  the 


190  ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

usual  duties  of  such  an  officer ;  the  others  to  be  styled  dis 
trict  Superintendents,  and  one  each  year  to  act  as  State 
Superintendent  by  rotation.  The  Board  was  to  hold  semi 
annual  meetings  ;  each  district  Superintendent  to  report  to  the 
State  Superintendent  annually,  and  the  latter  to  report  to  the 
Legislature ;  the  signature  of  the  district  Superintendent  to 
be  necessary  to  give  validity  to  certificates  of  all  teachers  in 
his  district ;  each  teacher  to  pay  to  the  county  Board  of 
Examiners  one  dollar  on  receiving  his  certificate,  which  cer 
tificate  entitled  him  to  teach  in  any  county  of  the  State  for 
the  period  named  therein,  and  for  the  same  period  to  receive 
the  "  Ohio  School  Teacher,"  (a  monthly  paper  to  be  published 
at  Columbus,  by  the  State  Board,)  and  attend  Teachers'  Insti 
tutes,  and  normal  classes,  all  free  of  charge.  The  fund  thus 
raised  was  to  pay  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  Board ; 
and  to  that  end  the  Clerk  of  each  county  Board  of  Examiners 
was  required  to  pay  over  the  whole  amount  received  from 
teachers,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  to  the  district  Superintendent, 
and  forward  receipt  therefor  to  the  Treasurer  of  State  ;  but  in 
no  event  were  these  salaries  and  expenses  to  be  a  charge  on 
the  State  treasury. 

Although  no  effort  was  made  to  render  this  system  efficient, 
as  a  legislative  enactment,  yet  it  is  very  apparent  that  the 
Ohio  State  Teachers'  Association,  with  its  "  Journal  of  Edu 
cation,"  and  very  effective  organization,  is  the  practical  sequel 
of  the  foregoing  proposition. 

TAXATION  FOE  THE  SUPPORT  OF  SCHOOLS. 

By  the  act  of  1821,  each  district  determined  its  own  taxa 
tion  for  school  purposes;  but  the  law  of  1825  contained  the 
first  uniform  rule  on  this  subject.  The  county  Commissioners 
were  directed  to  levy  half  a  mill  on  the  dollar  "  to  be  appro 
priated  for  the  use  of  common  schools  in  their  respective 
counties."  This  assessment  fluctuated  under  successive  acts 
as  follows :  In  1829,  raised  to  three-fourths  of  a  mill ;  in 
1831,  power  given  to  county  Commissioners,  at  their  option, 
to  add  one-fuurth  of  a  mill ;  in  1834,  raised  one  mill,  and  an 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  191 

additional  half  of  a  mill  at  the  option  of  the  county  Commis 
sioners  ;  in  1836,  raised  to  one  and  a  half  mills,  with  an  ad 
ditional  half  mill,  at  the  option  of  the  Commissioners,  or  not 
exceeding  a  mill  and  a  half  by  a  vote  of  a  township,  in  case 
the  Commissioners  refused  to  levy  half  a  mill ;  in  1838,  raised 
to  two  mills ;  in  1839,  discretion  given  to  county  Commis 
sioners  to  reduce  from  two  mills  to  one;  in  1847,  reduced  to 
two-fifths  of  a  mill;  in  1848,  the  county  Commissioners  au 
thorized,  but  not  required,  to  levy  one  mill;  while  in  1851, 
the  Commissioners  were  required,  not  merely  authorized,  to 
levy  a  county  school  tax  of  not  less  than  one  mill.  This  was 
the  state  of  the  law  when,  by  the  act  of  1853,  the  county  tax 
ation  for  schools  was  superseded  entirely  by  a  State  levy  of 
two  mills,  since  reduced  to  a  mill  and  a  half  on  the  dollar 
valuation. 

STATE   COMMON   SCHOOL   FUND. 

By  the  act  of  March  2,  1831,  as  has  already  been  stated, 
the  net  proceeds  from  the  sales  of  salt  lands,  and  all  dona 
tions,  legacies,  and  devises  to  'that  object,  were  "  constituted 
a  fund  for  the  support  of  common  schools,  to  belong  in  com 
mon  to  the  people  of  the  State ,"  the  interest  thereon  to  be 
funded  until  1835,  and  the  income  then  distributed  to  the 
counties  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  white  male  inhab 
itants  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

The  act  of  March  7,  1838.  established  a  State  common 
school  fund  "consisting  of  the  interest  on  the  surplus  rev 
enue  at  five  per  centum,  the  interest  on  the  proceeds  of  salt 
lands,  the  revenue  from  banks,  insurance  and  bridge  com 
panies,  and  other  funds,  to  be  annually  provided  by  the  State, 
to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars ; "  and  di 
rected  its  annual  distribution  to  the  counties  "  according  to 
the  number  of  white  youths  (unmarried)  between  the  ages  of 
four  and  twenty  years."  The  above  amount  was  reduced, 
March  7,  1842,  to  $150,000,  and  raised,  March  24,  1851,  to 
$300,000. 

By  the  act  last  named,  the  basis  of  the  fund  was  slightly 


192  ABSTRACT   OF    SCHOOL    LEGISLATION. 

modified.  In  1843,  the  surplus  revenue  had  been  pledged  to 
the  payment  of  a  canal  stock,  and  only  the  balance  after  that 
payment  was  pledged  to  schools.  In  addition  to  the  above 
sources  of  revenue,  (salt  lands,  etc.,)  the  act  of  1851  added 
u  all  moneys  paid  into  the  State  treasury  for  licenses  to  ped 
dlers,  for  auction  duties,  and  for  taxes  upon  lawyers  and  phy 
sicians." 

At  present,  the  State  common  school  fund  for  general  dis 
tribution,  is  defined  by  the  act  of  1853,  which  repealed  the 
above  provisions,  leaving  these  sources  of  revenue  to  other 
disposition.  As  a  substitute  therefor,  as  well  as  for  the 
county  levy  already  described,  the  present  school  law  directs 
a  tax  of  a  mill  and  a  half  for  distribution  to  the  counties,  and 
thence  to  the  townships,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
youths  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one ;  but  author 
izes  a  township  tax  not  exceeding  two  mills,  in  the  discretion 
of  Boards  of  Education,  to  prolong  the  schools  after  the  State 
fund  is  exhausted. 

SCHOOL-HOUSE    STRUCTURES. 

The  legislation  in  this  behalf  is  greatly  diversified,  and 
lias  resulted  in  an  investment,  estimated  by  the  State  School 
Commissioner,  in  1855,  at  $3,090,306.  In  1821,  two-thirds 
of  the  householders  in  any  district  established  under  the  act 
of  that  year,  were  authorized  to  instruct  the  School  Committee 
of  the  district,  to  purchase  a  site  and  erect  a  school-house,  by 
means  of  a  district  tax,  "  not  exceeding,  in  any  one  year,  one- 
half  of  the  amount  of  taxes  which  might,  by  law,  have  been 
levied  for  State  or  county  purposes." 

By  the  act  of  1825,  the  householders  or  inhabitants  of  a 
district,  provided  one-third  of  all  the  householders  of  said 
district  were  present,  were  empowered  to  "designate  and  de 
termine  upon  the  site  of  a  school-house,  and  to  provide 
means  for  building  the  same." 

In  1831,  the  provisions  on  this  subject  became  quite  com 
plicated.  If  the  number  of  householders  in  a  district  did  imt 
exceed  thirty,  one-third  of  their  number,  otherwise,  ten  house- 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  193 

holders,  was  considered  a  quorum ;  a  meeting  to  determine 
whether  a  tax  should  be  levied  for  erecting,  repairing,  or  fur 
nishing  a  school-house,  or  improving  a  school-house  lot, 
was  required  to  be  special,  after  thirty  days'  notice ;  and  at 
such  meeting,  all  residents  liable  to  taxation,  were  allowed  to 
vote,  but  no  such  tax  could  be  assessed,  except  by  a  vote  of 
three-fifths  of  those  present.  It  was  further  provided,  that 
the  amount  of  such  tax  should  not  exceed  fifty  dollars  in  any 
one  year,  unless  at  least  one-third  of  the  property  subject  to 
taxation  within  the  district,  was  owned  by  persons  residing 
therein ;  and  in  case  one-third  or  more,  but  less  than  half, 
was  thus  owned,  then  not  to  exceed  $100 ;  if  one-half,  but 
less  than  two-thirds,  not  to  exceed  $150 ;  but  such  tax  in  no 
case  should  exceed  $250  in  one  year.  Prior  to  the  assess 
ment  of  a  tax,  the  district  meeting  must  agree  upon  and  des 
ignate  a  site ;  land  lying  more  than  three  miles  from  the 
school-house  was  exempted  from  taxation  therefor ;  nor  could 
the  land  of  a  non-resident  proprietor,  once  taxed  for  school- 
house  construction,  be  again  taxed  for  such  a  purpose  within 
three  years.  The  tax,  though  assessed  by  the  county  Auditor, 
was  collected  by  the  district  Treasurer. 

The  act  of  1834  repeated  these  provisions,  except  that  it 
was  silent  upon  what  constituted  a  quorum ;  the  notice  for  a 
special  district  meeting  was  to  be  twenty  days  instead  of  thirty, 
and  the  maximum  of  school-house  tax  was  raised  from  $250 
to  $275  in  any  one  year. 

In  1836,  the  assent  of  two-thirds,  not  three-fifths,  of  those 
present,  was  made  requisite,  and  the  maximum  of  school- 
house  tax  was  fixed  at  $300. 

The  elaborate  school  act  of  1838  changed  materially  the 
law  regulating  school-house  construction.  At  the  annual  dis 
trict  meeting,  on  the  third  Friday  of  September,  or  at  a  spe 
cial  meeting  after  twenty  days'  notice,  stating  an  intention  to 
propose  a  school-house  tax,  a  majority  of  the  voters  present, 
being  householders,  were  authorized  to  "  determine  by  vote, 
upon  the  erection  and  purchase  of  a  school-house,  or  the  pur 
chase  of  a  lot  or  lots,  on  which  to  erect  such  house,  and  how 

13 


194:  ABSTRACT   OF    SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

much  money  [should]  be  raised  for  such  purchase,  and  the 
purchase  of  fuel,  and  for  building,  repairing,  or  furnishing 
any  school-house  or  school-houses  in  their  district."  The 
manner  of  collection  was  unchanged. 

The  Directors  were  also  authorized  to  sell  or  exchange  a 
school-house  or  site,  and  re-invest  the  proceeds  in  a  new  site 
or  structure. 

Under  the  act  of  1853,  the  power  of  taxation  for  school- 
house  construction,  is  vested  in  Boards  of  Education,  and  is 
unrestricted. 

LOCAL   SCHOOL    OFFICERS. 

The  subdivision  of  a  township  into  districts,  under  the 
former  system,  was  the  duty  of  the  township  Trustees. 
Maps  of  the  same  were  deposited  with  the  township  Clerk 
and  county  Auditor.  Alterations  might  be  made  at  an 
annual  meeting,  but  public  notice  of  the  contemplated 
change,  thirty  days  previously,  and  posted  in  three  public 
places,  was  requisite,  together  with  new  maps. 

Three  Directors  were  annually  chosen  in  each  district,  who 
appointed  from  their  own  number  a  Clerk,  who  was  also 
Treasurer.  The  Directors  were  a  body  corporate,  capable  of 
suing  and  being  sued ;  and  of  receiving  any  gift,  grant  or 
devise,  for  the  use  of  the  district.  In  them  was  vested  the 
title  and  control  of  the  school-house ;  they  might  divide  their 
district  into  sub-districts ;  select  sites  for  school-houses,  and 
purchase  the  same;  repair  and  keep  in  order  the  school- 
houses  ;  provide  fuel  for  the  schools,  and  for  this  purpose 
assess  a  tax  not  exceeding  ten  dollars ;  superintend  the  con 
struction  of  school-houses,  and  furnish  the  same,  when  duly 
authorized ;  establish  schools ;  employ  teachers ;  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations ;  and  report  to  the  annual  dis 
trict  meeting  an  account  of  their  official  proceedings  for  the 
preceding  year,  showing  the  amount  of  school  funds  appor 
tioned  to  the  district,  and  how  it  had  been  expended ;  how 
many  schools  had  been  taught,  for  what  time,  and  the  amount 
of  the  salaries  paid  to  the  teachers ;  the  number  of  pupils  in 


ABSTRACT   OF  SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  195 

each  school j  the  branches  taught;  the  amount  of  money 
raised  by  district  tax,  for  purchasing  lots,  building  or  repair 
ing  school-houses,  or  any  other  purpose ;  with  an  account  of 
all  the  disbursements. 

The  township  Clerk  was  required  to  keep  copies  of  all  dis 
trict  maps,  and  deposit  them  with  the  county  Auditor; 
approve  bonds  of  district  Treasurers ;  be  township  Superin 
tendent  ;  return  to  county  Auditor  annually,  by  November 
15th,  an  enumeration  of  youths ;  fill  vacancies  in  the  Board 
of  School  Directors,  and  where  no  elections  were  held,  appoint 
Directors ;  make  and  transmit  to  county  Auditor,  annual 
abstracts  of  statistics  returned  by  districts ;  visit  the  schools, 
and  estimate  expense  of  supporting  them  six  months ;  post 
notices  for  levying  township  school  tax,  to  defray  that  ex 
pense  ;  and  report  the  vofe  of  the  township  to  the  county 
Auditor ;  and  be  responsible  for  all  losses  sustained  by  the 
township  by  reason  of  his  neglect  of  duty. 

Township  Treasurers  were  treasurers  of  the  school  fund, 
under  bond,  etc.;  they  received  and  paid  out  all  school  mon 
eys  on  the  order  of  the  Directors ;  annually,  in  December, 
they  settled  with  the  county  Auditor ;  they  sued  for  all  mon 
eys  belonging  to  the  several  districts  in  their  townships,  in 
the  name  of  the  State  of  Ohio ;  and  were  allowed  fees  for 
their  services  by  township  Trustees. 

The  county  Auditor  gave  a  general  direction  to  the  collec 
tion  of  taxes  for  school  purposes ;  was  county  Superintend 
ent  ;  made  annual  apportionments  of  school  moneys  to  the 
districts;  collected  all  fines  and  other  funds  applicable  to 
school  purposes ;  and  made  an  annual  report  of  all  infor 
mation  received  at  his  office,  to  the  State  Superintendent. 

The  above  outline  was  slightly  modified  by  an  act  which 
was  passed  March  24,  1851,  and  remained  in  force  until 
repealed  in  1853.  It  directed  the  election  of  a  district  Treas 
urer  and  Clerk ;  authorized  the  School  Directors  to  levy  a  tax 
of  fifty  dollars  for  necessary  repairs,  fuel,  etc.;  permitted  the 
purchase  of  a  district  library  with  the  assent  of  a  district 


196  ABSTRACT    OF   SCHOOL    LEGISLATION. 

meeting ;  and  very  clearly  digested  the  mass  of  existing  laws, 
in  respect  to  local  school  officers. 

TOWNSHIP   TAXATION. 

A  very  important  duty  of  the  township  Clerk,  as  Superin 
tendent  of  Common  Schools,  deserves  to  be  separated  from 
the  routine  of  his  ministerial  functions.  lie  was  required  to 
make  an  annual  estimate  of  the  amount  of  money  required  in 
his  township,  in  addition  to  the  State  and  county  taxation,  to 
provide  at  least  six  months'  good  tuition  to  all  the  white  unmar 
ried  youth  in  the  township,  during  the  year  ensuing ;  and  to 
cause  public  notice  to  be  given  of  the  amount  required,  by  post 
ing  the  same  in  writing  on  the  door  of  every  common  school- 
house  in  the  township,  and  at  the  usual  place  of  holding  the 
election,  at  least  fifteen  days  before  the  annual  township  elec 
tion,  at  which  the  electors  proceeded  to  vote  for  "  school  tax," 
or  "  no  school  tax."  If  affirmatively,  the  amount  was  certified 
to  the  county  Auditor,  and  added  to  the  current  taxation  of 
the  township. 

SCHOOL   EXAMINEES. 

A  county  system  for  the  examination  and  certification  of 
teachers,  has  generally  existed  in  Ohio,  although,  as  has  been 
seen,  the  number  of  Examiners  appointed  by  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  has  fluctuated.  The  act  of  1825  provided  for 
the  appointment  of  three  Examiners  for  the  term  of  one 
year,  and  enumerated  as  the  branches  of  study  in  common 
schools,  "  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  other  necessary 
branches  of  a  common  education."  The  act  of  February  10, 
1829,  directed  the  appointment  by  the  Clerk  of  Common 
Pleas,  of  a  suitable  number  of  persons,  not  less  than  five,  nor 
more  than  the  number  of  townships  in  the  county,  to  be 
called  Examiners  of  Common  Schools,  and  to  serve  for  two 
years.  In  1830,  the  Court  resumed  the  appointment — other 
wise  the  provision  was  as  last  above.  In  1834:,  the  number 
of  Examiners  was  limited  to  five;  but  it  was  made  the  duty 
of  the  Board  of  County  Examiners  to  appoint  one  School 
Examiner  in  each  township,  to  examine  female  teachers  only ; 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  197 

and  in  no  case  was  a  certificate  to  be  given,  unless  the  candi 
date  was  qualified  to  teach  Heading,  Writing,  and  Arith 
metic,  and  sustained  a  good  moral  character. 

The  act  of  1836  directed  the  election  of  three  Examiners 
in  each  township ;  and  on  failure  to  elect,  the  Court  of  Com 
mon  Pleas  might  appoint ;  but  in  1838  the  appointment  of 
three  county  Examiners,  for  the  term  of  three  years,  was 
again  conferred  upon* the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

The  act  of  1853  only  differs  from  the  law  of  -1838  in  the 
standard  of  qualifications.  Every  candidate  must  be  found 
qualified  to  teach  "  Orthography,  Heading,  Writing,  Arithme 
tic,  Geography,  and  English  Grammar."  The  appointment 
of  Examiners  is  by  the.  Probate  Judge. 

COUNTY   SUPERINTENDENTS. 

Although  county  Auditors  were  and  are,  ex  officio,  county 
Superintendents,  yet  reference  is  here  made  to  an  act,  passed 
February  8,  1847,  which  authorized  county  Commissioners  to 
create  the  separate  office  of  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools  within  their  jurisdiction.  In  that  event,  the  Clerks  of 
the  school  districts  in  the  county,  were  constituted  a  body  of 
electors,  and  might  select  said  Superintendent,  whose  duties 
were  as  follows :  To  act  as  ex  officio  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
School  Examiners,  his  signature  being  made  necessary  to  the 
validity  of  every  certificate ;  to  renew,  at  his  discretion,  the 
certificates  of  teachers  who  had  been  personally  examined  by 
the  Board,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  one  of  the  said  Board 
of  School  Examiners,  to  annul  the  certificate  of  any  teacher 
who  might  prove  incompetent  in  respect  to  learning,  ability 
to  teach,  or  moral  character ;  to  visit  and  examine  all  the 
schools  in  the  county,  and  keep  a  full  record  of  such  visits 
and  examinations ;  to  meet  and  address  the  people  in  the 
several  school  districts  and  townships,  on  the  subject  of  edu 
cation  ;  to  encourage  the  formation  of  township  and  county 
educational  societies,  and  teachers'  associations ;  and  to 
transmit  to  the  State  Superintendent,  at  Columbus,  an  abstract 
of  his  transactions,  and  a  statistical  report,  similar  to  that 


198  ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

required  from  the  county  Auditor.  His  compensation  was  at 
the  option  of  the  county  Commissioners.  The  law,  at  iir>t 
local,  was  afterward  extended  over  the  whole  State ;  but  only 
one  county,  Ashtabula,  established  the  office  in  question. 
That  single  experiment  was  eminently  successful. 

SPECIAL   SCHOOL   DISTRICTS. 

The  necessity  for  some  special  orgaiization  of  schools  in 
populous  towns  and  villages,  was  early  apparent.  Cincinnati 
first  illustrated  this  necessity  and  secured  the  requisite  legis 
lation.  Since  1830-1,  the  public  schools  of  that  city  have 
been  managed  by  three  bodies  having  distinct  Functions,  to- 
wit:  a  Board  of  Trustees,  a  Board  of  Examiners,  and  a 
corps  of  teachers. 

1.  The  Board  of  Trustees  are  elected  by  the  people  at  the 
annual  municipal  elections,  two  for  each  ward,  and  have 
charge  exclusively  of  what  may  be   termed  the  business 
arrangements  of  the  schools.     Their  duties  are  to  make  the 
necessary  appropriations  of  money ;   to  furnish,  repair,  and 
arrange  the  buildings ;  to  appoint  teachers,  and  make  rules 
for  their  government,  with  all  such  powers  as  are  incidental 
to  the  immediate  government  of  the  schools. 

2.  The  Board  of  Examiners   are  appointed  by  the  city 
Council,  are  seven  in  number,  and  their  duties  are  to  examine 
the  teachers  in  reepect  to  their  qualifications.     Without  their 
certificate,  no  teacher  can  be  appointed.     To  perform  this 
duty  with  due  regard  to  the  various  capacities  of  the  teachers, 
the  Board  of  Examiners  have  divided  their  certificates  into, 
first,  that  he  is  qualified  as  male  principal ;  second,  that  he 
is  qualified  as  male  assistant  /  third,  that  she  is  qualified  as 
female  principal;  and  fourth,  that  she  is  qualified  as  female 
assistant. 

3.  The  body  of  teachers  were  two   hundred  and   twenty- 
three   in   number  —  one    hundred   and   sixty-eight    females, 
fifty-five  males — during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1855. 

The  officers  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  consist  of  a  President, 
Vice-President,  Corresponding  Secretary,  Superintendent  of 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  199 

Instruction,  and  Clerk  and  Librarian.  Connected  with  the 
system,  are  two  high  schools — founded  upon  the  Hughes  and 
Woodward  endowments — which  are  under  the  special  charge 
of  the  Union  Board  of  High  Schools,  composed  of  seven 
Hughes  and  Woodward  Trustees,  and  six  delegates  from  the 
General  Board.  Next  below  is  an  intermediate  school,  while 
the  primary  department  consists  of  twenty  district,  sub- 
district,  and  asylum  schools,  and  seven  night  schools.  The 
report  for  1855  exhibits  38,446  white  youth  of  school  age,  by 
the  census,  of  whom  17,444:  are  enrolled  in  the  schools ; 
10,537  in  average  attendance ;  8,920  in  actual  daily  attend 
ance,  and  1,617,  average  daily  absence.  During  the  same 
year,  the  expenditure  for  the  maintenance  of  all  the  schools, 
exclusive  of  expenditure  for  real  estate  and  buildings,  was 
$120,878.29  for  an  average  attendance  of  10,537  pupils,  or 
at  the  rate  of  $11.47  per  pupil.  The  cost  of  the  high  schools 
was  $13,077.77  for  an  average  attendance  of*  three  hundred 
and  thirty-two  pupils,  or  at  the  rate  of  $39.39  per  pupil. 

The  example  of  Cincinnati  was  contagious,  and  the  act  of 
February  8, 1847,  "  for  the  support  and  regulation  of  common 
schools,  in  the  town  of  Akron,"  became  the  model  for  much 
subsequent  legislation.  It  authorized  the  electors  of  Akron, 
to  elect  a  Board  of  Education,  consisting  of  six  Direct 
ors,  two  of  them  retiring  annually,  and  their  places  sup 
plied  at  the  spring  election  for  the  term  of  three  years,  and 
until  their  successors  were  elected  and  qualified.  This  Board 
were  clothed  with  the  usual  school  jurisdiction  ;  their  officers 
were  a  President,  Secretary,  and  Treasurer,  chosen  from  their 
own  number ;  four  constituted  a  quorum ;  special  meetings 
might  be  called  by  the  President,  or  by  any  two  members  of 
the  Board,  or  giving  two  days'  notice  of  time  and  place,  but 
at  no  special  meeting,  unless  all  the  Directors  were  present, 
could  any  resolution  in  relation  to  sites  for  school-houses,  or 
any  financial  resolution  or  order,  be  passed,  without  two  days' 


*   See  Appendix,  "  School  Laws  in  Force,"  chapter  xxi,  for  the  Cincin 
nati  School  Act. 


200  ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION 

notice,  announcing  the  subject  or  subjects  proposed  to  be 
acted  upon  ;  they  were  required  to  establish  within  the  corpo 
rate  limits  of  Akron,  (which  was  constituted  one  school  dis 
trict,)  six  or  more  primary  schools  for  teaching  the  rudiments 
of  an  English  education,  and  also  a  central  Grammar  school, 
the  latter  being  open  to  pupils  who  should  pass  a  prescribed 
examination  and  were  guilty  of  no  misconduct ;  and  they 
were  directed,  within  thirty  days  after  their  organization,  to 
report  to  the  town  Council  the  necessary  expense  of  building 
suitable  houses,  and  supporting  schools  therein  for  a  year, 
and  annually  thereafter,  in  the  report  of  their  transactions, 
also  required  by  the  act,  to  specify  "  the  amount  of  money 
necessary  to  be  raised  by  taxation,  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
said  school  system  for  the  current  year."  No  discretion  was 
vested  in  the  town  Council,  except  to  make  the  levy  accordingly; 
although  an  act,  passed  in  1848,  limited  the  amount  of  tax 
"  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  school  system"  to  four  mills  on 
the  dollar,  in  any  one  year.* 

The  town  Council  were  required  to  appoint  three  School 
Examiners,  for  a  term  of  three  years,  who,  in  giving  certifi 
cates,  were  instructed  to  name  the  branches  a  candidate  was 
qualified  to  teach.  The  Examiners  were  made  Inspectors  and 
Visitors  of  schools,  and  were  directed  to  report  semi-annually 
to  the  town  Council,  and  the  Board  of  Education. 

In  1848,  any  incorporated  town  or  city  was  authorized  to 
adopt  the  provisions  of  the  Akron  Law,  on  the  petition  of 
two-thirds  of  the  electors ;  and  in  1849,  an  act  was  passed, 
for  the  better  regulation  of  the  public  schools  in  cities,  towns, 
etc.,  which  adopted  the  leading  provisions  of  the  Akron  act, 
except  that  all  questions  of  expenditure  for  school-house  con 
struction  were  submitted  to  a  majority  vote  in  town  meeting ; 
and  School  Examiners  were  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Edu 
cation.  Under  the  act  last  named,  it  was  the  duty  of  the 

*  See  Appendix,  "School  Laws  in  Force,"  chapter  vm,  for  the  power 
in  the  authorities  of  any  "  municipal  corporation"  to  borrow  money  for 
school-house  purposes,  passed  March  11,  1853. 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  201 

Board  to  provide,  by  taxation,  the  means  of  supporting 
schools  not  less  than  thirty-six,  nor  more  than  forty-four 
weeks  in  a  year ;  but  no  tax  for  that  purpose  could  exceed 
four  mills  on  the  dollar.  Rate-bills,  if  other  means  of  sup 
porting  schools  the  prescribed  period  proved  insufficient, 
might  be  collected ;  but  no  scholar  could  be  excluded  from 
school  for  inability  to  pay  the  same.  Provision  was  made  for 
submitting  the  question,  whether  the  Special  School  District 
system  should  be  adopted,  to  a  vote  of  the  people  of  any 
town  or  city,  in  which  six  resident  freeholders  summoned  a 
public  meeting,  pursuant  to  the  act;  and  if  the  same  was 
adopted,  the  Board  of  Education  thereby  created,  were  not 
limited  to  the  organization  of  primary  schools  and  a  Gram 
mar  school,  but  might  grade  the  schools  at  their  discretion. 

In  the  following  year,  March  13,  1850,  the  act  last  above 
recited  was  extended  to  incorporated  townships,  which  should 
adopt  the  same  by  popular  vote,  provided  the  population  of 
said  township  exceeded  five  hundred. 

These  acts  are  expressly  continued  in  force  by  section  sixty- 
seven  of  the  school  law  of  1853,  and  constitute  a  most  im 
portant  department  of  the  school  administration  of  the  State. 
Any  city,  town,  or  incorporated  village,  organized  under  any 
of  these  acts,  may,  however,  conform  to  similar  provisions  in 
the  act  of  1853,  (sections  thirty-two  to  thirty-five,)  for  the 
organization  of  special  school  districts.  * 

GERMAN   AND    ENGLISH   SCHOOLS. 

By  the  act  of  March  16,  1839,  amended  in  1842,  pupils 
might  attend  a  German  school,  if  taught  by  a  teacher  duly 
qualified,  and  be  entitled  to  receive  from  the  local  Directors 
an  order  for  a  proportionate  share  of  the  school  money. 
This  was  the  first  encouragement  of  such  schools,  and  by  the 
act  of  1853,  Boards  of  Education  "  may  provide  for  German 
schools  for  the  instruction  of  such  youth  as  may  desire  to 

*  See  Appendix,  "  School  Acts  in  Force,"  chapters  n  to  ix  inclusive, 
for  acts  establishing  and  regulating  special  school  districts. 


202  ABSTRACT    OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

study  the  German  language,  or  the  Gentian  and  English  Ian 
gnages  together."  The  School  Report  of  the  Cincinnati  Tru- 
tees,  for  1855,  observes  that  the  German  schools  of  that  city 
work  advantageously,  and  in  entire  harmony  and  unison  with 
other  parts  of  the  general  system.  They  are  of  two  grades, 
junior  and  senior.  The  State  School  Commissioner  reports 
fifty-five  schools  of  this  character  in  the  State. 

SCHOOLS    FOB   COLOEED   CHILDREN. 

Prior  to  184:9,  no  provision  was  made  for  the  education  of 
this  class  of  youth,  unless  an  exemption  from  taxation  for 
school  purposes  can  be  so  regarded.  But  by  the  acts  of  Feb 
ruary  24,  1848,  and  February  10,  1849,  township  Trustees, 
or  the  school  authorities  of  cities,  etc.,  were  authorized  to  es 
tablish  separate  school  districts  for  colored  persons,  within 
which  adult  male  colored  tax -payers  might  meet  and  choose 
Directors,  in  whom  was  vested  the  customary  school  jurisdic 
tion.  The  property  of  colored  tax-payers  was  alone  charge 
able  for  the  support  of  these  schools ;  but  the  powers  and 
duties  of  township,  county,  and  State  officers  extended 
equally  to  schools  for  colored  children,  as  to  other  schools. 

By  the  act  of  1853,  the  foregoing  provision  was  repealed. 
Colored  youth  are  required  to  be  annually  enumerated,  but 
returned  separately.  The  property  of  colored  tax-payers  is 
no  longer  exempt  from  taxation ;  and  section  thirty-one  pro 
vides  that  Boards  of  Education  are  authorized  and  required 
to  establish,  within  their  respective  jurisdictions,  one  or  more 
separate  schools  for  colored  children,  when  the  whole  enumer 
ation  exceeds  thirty ;  so  as  to  afford  them,  as  far  as  practica 
ble  under  all  the  circumstances,  the  advantages  and  privileges 
of  a  common  school  education.  But  in  case  the  average 
number  of  colored  children  in  attendance  shall  be  less  than 
fifteen  for  any  one  month,  the  school  is  to  be  discontinued  for 
any  period  not  exceeding  six  months ;  but  if  the  number  is 
less  than  fifteen,  then  the  money  raised  on  the  number  of 
colored  children  shall  be  applied  in  the  best  discretion  of  the 
township  Board,  for  the  education  of  such  colored  cliildren. 


ABSTRACT    OF    SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  203 

Mr.  Commissioner  Barney  reported  eighty-eight  schools  for 
colored  youth,  in  the  year  1855.* 

UNITED    STATES    SURPLUS    REVENUE   FUND. 

Although  this  fund  has  ceased  to  be  a  resource  for  schools, 
yet  the  fact  that  such  was  the  case  for  several  years,  would 
suggest  a  review  of  that  appropriation,  and  its  subsequent 
diversion  to  other  purposes. 

Congress,  in  1836,  passed  an  act  directing  the  deposit 
with  the  States,  in  proportion  to  their  respective  representa 
tions  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  of  the 
revenue  which  might  be  in  the  treasury  of  the  United  States 
on  the  first  day  of  January,  1837,  reserving  the  sum  of  five 
millions  of  dollars.  The  sum  appropriated  to  Ohio,  upon 
the  terms  and  conditions  contained  in  the  act,  was  $2,007,- 
260.34,  and  at  the  legislative  session  of  1836-7,  an  act  was 
passed,  providing  for  its  deposit  and  investment  in  the  coun 
ties  according  to  their  population  of  "  white  male  inhabitants 
over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,"  and  that  "the  net  annual 
income  thereof  should  be  applied  to  the  support  and  encour 
agement  of  common  schools  within  the  State,"  and  for  other 
purposes  designated  in  the  act.  A  Board  of  Fund  Commis 
sioners,  appointed  by  the  county  Commissioners,  were  au 
thorized  to  make  loans  at  six  per  cent,  in  certain  cases,  to 
the  county  or  State,  and  to  individuals,  on  real  estate  securi 
ties,  at  an  interest  not  exceeding  seven,  or  less  than  six  per 
cent.,  returning  the  income  of  these  loans  annually  to  the 
county  Treasurer,  who  was  required  by  section  sixteen,  to 
"  pay  over  to  or  account  with  the  State  Treasurer,  as  for  so 
much  money  received  for  his  proper  county  for  school  pur 
poses,  such  sum  as  would  be  equal  to  five  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  received  by  such  county."  Section  seventeen  directed 
that  the  funds  thus  received  should  be  paid  out  of  the  State 
treasury  to  the  counties  entitled  to  receive  the  same,  as  other 

*  See  Appendix,  "  School  Acts  in  Force,"    chapter  xxi,  section  17,  for 
provisions  for  the  above  schools  in  Cincinnati. 


204:  ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

school  money  was  paid  to  the  respective  counties.  %  By 
another  act,  passed  March  19, 1838,  the  Fund  Commissioners 
were  authorized  to  retain  whatever  income  should  exist,  after 
making  the  annual  payment  of  five  per  cent,  to  the  State 
school  fund,  and  invest  the  same  in  profitable  stocks  or  mort 
gages,  and  to  fund  annually  the  dividends  and  interests  of 
the  investment  so  made  to  accumulate,  as  a  permanent  fund 
for  the  support  of  schools,  or  for  the  promotion  of  internal 
improvements,  or  for  the  building  of  academies  in  their 
counties.  The  fund  last  named,  so  far  as  permanently  in 
vested  by  the  counties,  may  now  be  appropriated  (see  acts  of 
February  8,  184:7,  and  February  16,  1849,  Swan's  Revised 
Statutes,  p.  9G3,  note  a)  to  the  encouragement  of  Teachers' 
Institutes. 

Such  an  application  of  the  United  States  revenue  deposit 
corresponded  not  only  with  the  recommendation  of  Governor 
Lucas,  in  his  message  of  December  6,  1836,  but  with  the  leg 
islation  of  all  the  States  distinguished  for  systems  of  public 
instruction.  New  York,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  other 
States,  have  not  disturbed  these  provisions,  but  Ohio,  by  the 
act  of  March  13,  1843,  pledged  and  appropriated  the  amount 
of  surplus  revenue  received  from  the  United  States,  and  the 
proceeds  of  canal  lands  not  otherwise  pledged,  for  the  re 
demption  of  the  principal,  after  the  year  1851,  of  a  loan  of 
one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  thereby  authorized 
and  applied  to  the  payment  of  all  sums  due  to  the  contractors 
on  the  public  works  of  the  State.  By  the  act  of  184:3,  and 
subsequent  statutes,  provision  was  made  for  the  collection 
from  the  counties  before  1850  (or  at  the  utmost,  1852,)  of  the 
surplus  revenue,  although  section  11  postponed  the  diversion 
of  the  income  of  five  per  cent,  from  the  school  fund  until 
1850.  After  the  1st  of  January,  1850,  however,  in  the  lan- 
iniaire  of  the  fifth  section,  the  surplus  revenue  was  "  held  and 
appropriated  to  the  redemption  of  the  bonds  issued  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  that  were  unredeemed  at  the  time." 

The  original  dedication  of  this  rand  to  the  encouragement 
and  support  of  schools,  was  only  modified  by  the  obligation 


ABSTRACT    OF   SCHOOL  LEGISLATION.  205 

to  redeem  the  principal  of  the  seven  per  cent,  stock  issued  in 
1843,  and  redeemable  in  1851 ;  and  even  that  obligation  was 
shared  in  some  degree  by  the  lands  which  the  General  Gov 
ernment  had  donated  to  aid  the  public  works  of  the  State. 
This  fact  was  recognized  by  the  General  Assembly,  when,  in 
the  revision  of  the  school  law  in  1851,  the  balance  of  the 
surplus  revenue,  after  payment  of  the  loan  of  1843,  was  di 
rected  to  be  invested  in  the  stocks  of  the  State,  and  the  pro 
ceeds  appropriated  to  the  State  common  school  fund  of 
$300,000,  for  which  that  act  provided,  in  addition  to  a  pe 
remptory  county  tax  of  one  mill ;  but  two  years  thereafter,  or 
simultaneously  with  the  passage  of  the  present  school  law,  an 
act  was  passed  creating  a  sinking  fund  for  the  payment 
of  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  public  debt  of  Ohio, 
which  (beside  the  constitutional  appropriation  and  some  other 
resources,)  devotes  "  the  principal  and  proceeds  of  surplus 
revenue  loans  to  counties"  to  the  sinking  fund.  This  dispo 
sition  of  the  surplus  revenue  fund  yet  continues. 


These  voluntary  associations  of  teachers  for  the  purpose  of 
mutual  instruction,  have  been  productive  of  great  benefits  to 
the  school  interests  of  the  State ;  but  hitherto  have  been  very 
slightly  encouraged  by  legislation. 

Soon  after  the  first  introduction  of  Teachers'  Institutes,  the 
General  Assembly  became  satisfied  of  the  beneficial  influence 
of  such  sessions,  and  a  law  was  passed  for  their  encourage 
ment — at  first,  in  a  few  northern  counties,  but  now  made 
general  in  its  provisions — which  authorizes  appropriations  by 
the  county  authorities  in  certain  cases.  The  fund  first  speci 
fied  for  these  aids,  was  that  portion  of  the  interest  from  the 
surplus  revenue,  which  the  counties  were  allowed  to  retain  and 
invest  permanently  for  certain  local  uses,  namely:  the  differ 
ence,  after  payment  of  expenses,  between  the  five  per  cent, 
required  to  be  remitted  to  the  State  treasury,  and  the  six  or 
seven  per  cent,  which  was  reserved  on  the  loans — an  average 


206  ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

of  at  least  one  per  cent.,  and  which,  was,  in  some  instances, 
so  judiciously  invested  as  to  yield  a  good  income. 

The  following  is  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  legislation  on  this 
subject :  By  the  statutes  of  February  8,  1847,  February  24, 
1848,  and  February  16,  1849,  it  is  provided,  that  on  the  ap 
plication  of  forty  teachers,  resident  in  a  county,  and  propos 
ing  to  organize  a  Teachers'  Institute,  county  Commissioners 
may  ("  it  shall  be  lawful  for,"  etc.,)  appropriate  the  avails  of 
the  fund  last  mentioned,  or  any  part  thereof,  "  for  the  pur 
poses  of  such  association."  Section  2,  of  the  act  of  1847, 
provides  that  "  the  moneys  so  appropriated  shall,  upon  the 
order  of  the  county  Auditor,  be  paid  over  and  expended  by 
the  Board  of  School  Examiners  of  the  proper  county ;  the 
one-half  thereof,  at  least,  to  the  payment  of  suitable  persons 
as  instructors  and  lecturers  to  such  associations,  and  the  bal 
ance  thereof  (in  the  language  of  the  amendatory  act  of  Feb. 
24,  1848,)  to  the  purchase  and  support  of  suitable  common 
school  libraries,  for  the  several  common  school  districts  in 
the  several  counties  in  this  State,  that  may  be  in  the  possess 
ion  of  the  fund  named  in  the  first  section  of  said  act."  The 
act  of  1849  authorizes  the  county  Commissioners  to  appropri 
ate  $100,  when  the  special  fund  above  named  is  insufficient, 
or  does  not  exist,  provided  the  county  Examiners  concur  in 
the  petition  of  the  prescribed  number  of  teachers,  and  tho 
"  said  teachers  shall  have  first  raised  and  paid  over,  or  se- 
(•iiivd  to  be  paid  over,  to  said  Board  of  School  Examiners,  for 
the  purposes  and  benefit  of  such  association,  at  least  one-half 
of  the  sum  for  which  they  shall  so  petition  the  county 
Auditor,  and  which  payment,  or  security  for  payment,  as 
aforesaid,  shall  be  made  known  to  said  Auditor,  by  the 
receipt,  or  certificate,  in  writing,  of  said  Board  of  School 
Examiners." 

A  recognition  of  the  utility  of  Teachers'  Institutes  occurs 
in  the  act  of  1853,  which  enjoins  upon  the  State  Commis 
sioner  of  Common  Schools  the  duty  of  "  superintending  and 
encouraging  Teachers'  Institutes,"  and  requires  his  annual 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL  LEGISLATION.  207 

report  to  contain  "a  statement  of  the  number  of  Teachers' 
Institutes,  and  the  number  of  teachers  attending  them." 

A    SYNOPSIS   OF     INCIDENTAL     SCHOOL    REVENUES,     FINES,    SWAMP 

LANDS,  ETC. 

The  State  Commissioner  compiled,  in  1854,  the  numerous 
legislative  provisions  imposing  fines  to  be  paid  for  the  use 
of  schools.  If  an  account  of  these  was  rendered  in  the  dif 
ferent  counties  and  townships,  as  the  Commissioner  well  re 
marked,  a  considerable  amount  of  arrearages  might  be  ascer 
tained  : 

.  "  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  fines,  which  the  different 
acts,  whose  dates  are  given,  direct  to  be  paid  into  the  county 
treasuries  for  the  use  of  schools  : 

"1.  One  dollar  for  the  importation  or  sale  of  salt,  without 
legal  inspection  at  Cincinnati,  Portsmouth,  or  Cleveland — 
February  3, 1840.  2.  Not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars  for 
procuring  abortion — February  27,  1834.  3.  One  hundred 
dollars  by  county  Treasurer  for  failing  to  make  annual  set 
tlement  with  State  Treasurer — January  3,  1843.  4.  Not  ex 
ceeding  one  hundred  dollars  for  wantonly  or  maliciously 
opening  enclosures — February  28,  1846.  5.  Five  dollars  for 
every  hundred  pounds  of  fish,  except  shad,  mackerel,  or  her 
ring,  sold  without  inspection — March  9,  1831.  6.  Five  to 
fifty  dollars  for  failing  to  bury  or  burn  the  oifal  of  fish,  taken 
in  the  waters  of  this  State,  to  the  amount  of  one  or  more  bar 
rels — March  9,  1831.  7.  Five  hundred  dollars  for  keeping 
gambling  instruments,  aiding  in  gambling,  or  becoming  a 
common  gambler — January  17,  1846.  8.  Not  exceeding 
fifty  dollars  by  county  Inspectors  for  receiving  more  than 
their  prescribed  fees,  or  buying  condemned  articles — March 

9,  1821.      9.    Not    exceeding   ten   dollars   for    obstructing 
the  navigation  of  the  Muskingum  river  —  March  1,   1834. 

10.  Not  exceeding  ten  thousand  dollars  by  any  officer  or  cor 
poration,  who  is  in  contempt  for  disregarding  orders  of  court 
in  quo  warranto   procedure — March   17,   1838.      11.    Fifty 
cents  by  manufacturers  of  salt  for  each  barrel  not  drained  and 
packed  according  to  law — April  30,  1852.     12.  One-half  of 
amount  received  by  county  Auditors  (the  other  half  applied 
to  agricultural  fund  by  act  of  February  8, 1847)  for  licenses  of 
'  any  traveling  show ' — (further  defined  as  '  any  natural  or  ar 
tificial  curiosity  or  exhibition  of  horsemanship,  in  a  circus  or 
otherwise,  for  any  price,  gain,  or  reward ') — at  not  less  than 


208  ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

twenty  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars  ;  also,  one-half  of  fines  of 
one  hundred  dollars  for  exhibiting  without  such  license; 
Auditor  to  apportion  the  above  proceeds  to  the  respective 
school  districts  (now  the  townships  and  special  districts)  ac 
cording  to  the  number  of  youth  therein — February  28,  1831, 
amended  by  act  of  February  8,  1847.  13.  The  amount  of 
any  debt  or  demand  upon  which  any  bank  shall  have  taken 
illegal  interest,  less  the  per  centage  of  the  Prosecuting  Attor 
ney,  provided  the  debtor  has  not  commenced  proceedings 
within  six  months  from  the  transaction — March  19,  1850. 

"  The  fines  payable  to  township  Treasurers  for  the  use  of 
schools,  are  as  follows: 

"1.  Five  to  fifty  dollars  for  unauthorized  traffic  near  camp 
meetings — March  26, 1841.  2.  Ten  dollars  for  allowing  Can 
ada  thistles  to  mature  on  defendant's  land,  and  twenty  dol 
lars  for  knowingly  vending  any  grass  or  other  seed,  in  which 
there  is  any  seed  of  the  Canada  thistle — March  6,  1844.  3. 
Divers  penalties  under  the  act  to  restrain  immoral  practices, 
passed  February  17,  1834,  namely :  one  to  five  dollars  for 
Sabbath  breaking ;  five  dollars  for  selling  spiritous  liquors  on 
Sunday  ;  not  exceeding  twenty  dollars  for  disturbing  religious 
meetings ;  twenty-five  cents  to  one  dollar  for  each  offense, 
'if  any  person  of  the  age  of  fourteen  years  or  upward  shall 
profanely  curse  or  damn,  or  profanely  swear  by  the  name  of 
God,  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  Holy  Ghost ; '  fifty  cents  to  five 
dollars  for  exciting  disturbance  at  a  public  meeting;  fifty 
cents  to  five  dollars  for  playing  bullets,  running  horses,  or 
shooting  at  a  target  in  towns  or  villages  ;  ten  to  one  hundred 
dollars  by  any  keeper  of  a  pu-blic  house,  or  retailer  of  spirit 
ous  liquors,  who  is  connected  with  a  nine-pin  alley ;  ten  dol 
lars  c  if  any  persons  shall  exhibit  any  puppet  show,  wire- 
dancing,  or  tumbling,  jugglery,  or  sleight  of  hand,  within  this 
State,  and  shall  ask  and  receive  any  money  or  other  property 
for  exhibiting  the  same; '  ten  dollars  for  defacing  any  adver 
tisement  set  up  by  authority  of  law ;  not  exceeding  one  hun 
dred  dollars  for  bull  or  bear-baiting  and  other  torture  of  ani 
mals  ;  not  exceeding  twenty  dollars  for  any  agency  in  '  the 
game  commonly  called  cock-fighting; '  one  to  five  dollars  'if 
two  or  more  persons  shall  run  a  match  horse  race  or  races,  in 
any  public  road  in  common  use,  for  the  purpose  of  trying  the 
speed  of  their  horses  ;  and  if  any  Justice  of  the  Peace  fail  to 
pay  over  the  above  fines  for  immoral  practices,  he  shall  forfeit 
double  amounts.  4.  Five  to  fitly  dollars  for  firing  cannon  or 
exploding  more  than  five  ounces  avoirdupois  of  gunpowder 
on  public  streets  or  highways,  except  iu  certain  cases — 1V1>- 


ABSTRACT   OF   SCHOOL   LEGISLATION.  209 

ruary  10, 1845.  5.  One  dollar  for  each  muskrat  killed  between 
May  1  and  October  15,  'provided  that  nothing  in  this  act  con 
tained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  any  person  from  destroy 
ing  muskrats  where  the  same  shall  be  injurious  to  works  of  a 
public  or  private  nature ' — c  an  act  to  protect  the  fur  trade,' 
passed  January  18,  1830.  0.  Fifty  dollars  for  unlicensed 
peddling — February  7, 1848.  7.  Five  to  fifty  dollars  by  man 
ufacturers  who  compel  any  women  or  children  under  eighteen 
years  of  age,  or  permit  any  child  under  fourteen  years,  to 
labor  more  than  ten  hours  in  any  one  day — March  19,  1852. 
8.  Twenty-five  cents  to  one  dollar  by  owner  of  '  habitually 
breachy  or  unruly  animals,  after  due  notice  by  township  Trus 
tees,  payable  to  '  the  treasury  of  the  school  district  in  which 
defendant  resides  '  (now  the  township  treasury) — January  17, 
1840.  9.  Five  to  twenty-five  dollars  by  any  tavern-keeper, 
grocery-keeper,  or  other  person,  for  harboring  any  intoxicated 
Indian  or  Indians,  '  for  the  use  of  the  school  district ' — March 
20,  1840. 

"  By  act  of  March  14,  1853,  personal  property  escheated  to 
the  State  is  appropriated  to  common  schools. 

"  In  respect  to  the  swamp  lands  granted  by  the  General 
Government  to  the  Western  States,  by  the  act  of  September 
28,  1850,  the  allotment  to  Ohio  was  only  25,720^  acres, 
while  Indiana  receives  l,286,827iU  acres.  This  contrast 
proves  the  extent  to  which  Ohio  lands  are  susceptible  of  cul 
tivation,  or  that  the  designation  of  "  swamp  lands  "  has  not 
been  applied  with  much  precision,  or  governed  by  a  uni 
form  rule. 

"  The  legislation  by  the  State  of  Ohio  assumes  that  these 
lands  are  in  a  condition  unsuitable  for  tillage,  and  deleterious 
to  health,  and  the  acts  of  March  2,  1853,  and  April  25,  1854, 
offer  inducements  for  promptly  reclaiming  them.  The 
Auditors  of  the  counties  in  which  they  are  situated,  are  re 
quired  to  advertise  for  proposals -to  drain  and  reclaim  such 
lands,  and  award  the  contract  of  drainage  and  reclamation  to 
the  lowest  responsible  bidder.  A  previous  section  pro 
vides  for  the  appraisement  of  the  lands  before  they  have  been 
drained  and  reclaimed,  and  the  only  means  set  apart  by  the 
act  to  pay  for  such  drainage  consists  of  '  said  lands  lying  in 
said  county  at  the  appraised  value  thereof.'  The  first  eight 
sections  of  the  act  of  1853  contemplate  that,  after  the  lands 
are  reclaimed,  they  may  be  taken  at  the  appraised  value 
before  reclamation  to  the  amount  of  the  contractor's  bid ;  and 
then  section  nine  adds,  '  that  if  after  the  said  swamp  or  over 
flowed  lands  of  this  State,  lying  within  any  county,  be 

14 


210  ABSTRACT    OF    SCHOOL   LEGISLATION. 

drained  or  reclaimed  as  herein  provided,  there  shall  remain 
any  of  the  said  lands  undisposed  of,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  couiity  Commissioners  of  such  county  to  appraise 
the  same,  and  make  returns  of  such  appraisal  as  aforesaid ; 
upon  the  filing  of  such  returns  in  his  office,  the  county 
Auditor  is  hereby  authorized  to  sell  the  said  lands  at  the  ap 
praised  value  thereof  to  any  applicant  therefor,  who  will 
make  an  oath  or  affirmation  that  it  is  his  intention  to  im 
prove  the  same  and  make  the  same  a  permanent  residence, 
or  that  the  same  adjoin  to  and  are  necessary  to  the  proper 
improvement  of  lands  then  owned  and  improved  by  such 
applicant,  which  said  oath  or  affirmation  the  said  county 
Auditor  is  hereby  authorized  to  administer ;  and  in  all  cases 
of  sales,  as  prescribed  in  this  section,  the  said  county  Auditor 
shall  receipt  to  the  purchaser  for  the  amount  of  money 
received,  and  describe  therein  the  lauds  sold,  which  said 
receipt,  upon  presentation  and  delivery  to  the  Governor,  shall 
entitle  the  purchaser  to  a  patent  for  such  land :  Provided, 
that  such  of  said  swamp  or  overflowed  lands  as  are  capable 
of  being  drained  or  reclaimed,  may  be  sold  without  the  oath 
or  affirmation  hereinbefore  required.' 

"  Two  years  is  the  period  fixed  for  the  performance  of  these 
contracts-  of  drainage,  and  when  companies  have  been  formed 
for  the  purpose,  the  work  done  by  them  may  be  estimated  in 
money,  and  lands  conveyed  at  the  appraised  value.  Section 
ten  finally  provides  c  that  all  moneys  received  by  said  county 
Auditor  upon  all  sales  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  paid  into  the 
county  Treasury  of  the  county  in  which  the  lands  sold  are 
situated,  to  reimburse  the  county  for  the  expenditures  of 
draining  and  reclaiming  said  swamp  or  overflowed  lauds, 
and  the  residue,  if  any  there  be,  shall  Repaid  by  said  county 
Treasurers  into  the  State  treasury  for  the  use  of  schools? 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  ex 
pect  any  material  addition  to  the  resources  of  schools  from  a 
reversionary  interest  so  contingent." 


CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.  211 


CHAPTER  XY. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1850-51. 

EARLY  in  the  session  of  the  Ohio  Constitutional  Conven 
tion,  which  assembled  in  Columbus  May  6,  1850,  and  closed 
its  deliberations,  after  an  adjournment  to  Cincinnati,  on  the 
10th  of  March,  1851,  the  subject  of  education  was  entrusted 
to  a  Standing  Committee,  composed  of  the  following  dele 
gates  :  Harmon  Stidger,  of  Stark ;  Otway  Curry,  of  Union ; 
Samuel  Quigley,  of  Columbiana ;  James  W.  Taylor,  of  Erie ; 
Jacob  J.  Greene,  of  Defiance;  A.  G.  Brown,  of  Athens  ;  and 
John  A.  Smith,  of  Highland. 

The  attention  of  the  Convention  had  been  previously  in 
vited,  by  Mr.  Stidger,  to  the  consideration  of  the  following 
resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Auditor  of  State  be  and  is  hereby 
requested  to  furnish  for  the  use  of  this  Convention,  in  addi 
tion  to  his  report  to  the  General  Assembly  of  March  13, 
1850,  on  the  subject  of  the  surplus  revenue,  full  and  distinct 
answers  to  the  following  questions  : 

"  1.  What  per  centum  of  the  interest  on  sums  originally 
deposited  with  the  several  counties,  was  applied  to  the  use  of 
common  schools,  and  what  was  the  aggregate  amount  of  the 
school  fund  derived  from  that  source  ? 

"  2.  What  amount  of  the  surplus  revenue,  (if  any,)  has  been 
repaid  into  the  State  treasury,  since  the  date  of  the  report 
referred  to,  and  how  much  is  now  due  from  the  counties 
severally  ? 

"  3.  In  what  manner  and  to  what  purposes  has  the  amount 
of  the  principal  of  surplus  revenue,  repaid  to  the  State  by  the 
several  counties,  been  applied  ? 

"4.  Whether  the  repayment  of  the  principal  of  surplus 
revenue  to  the  State,  has  in  any  wise  diminished  the  common 
school  fund  ?  if  so,  how  much  ? 

"  5.  If  a  diminution  of  the  school  fund  has  been  occa- 


212  CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION. 

sioncd  by  the  causes  referred  to,  from  what  sources  is  it 
contemplated  to  raise  means  to  preserve  and  keep  up  the 
amount  of  the  school  fund  heretofore  derived  from  the  in 
terest  on  surplus  revenues  ?" 

The  resolution,  when  introduced,  elicited  a  statement  from 
Mr.  Hawkins,  as  an  additional  point  proper  for  inquiry,  that 
$335,000  of  surplus  revenue  recalled  by  the  State,  had  been 
disbursed  in  the  redemption  of  turnpike  bonds,  while,  by  the 
law  of  1843,  the  fund  was  only  pledged  for  the  redemption 
of  the  seven  per  cent,  bonds  falling  due  in  1851,  which  were 
authorized  by  that  law.  No  general  discussion  then  followed, 
and  the  resolution  was  laid  on  the  table,  and  ordered  to  be 
printed. 

Subsequently  the  resolution  was  considered  in  Committee 
of  the  Whole,  and  the  Convention  declined  to  entertain  it, 
the  majority  deeming  the  subject  of  the  inquiry  a  matter  of 
ordinary  legislation,  and  not  necessary  to  the  proper  adjust 
ment  of  the  article  upon  education.  A  permanent  constitu 
tional  provision,  in  regard  to  the  surplus  revenue  deposit, 
which,  by  its  terms,  might  be  withdrawn  at  any  moment  by 
the  federal  Government,  although  reported  by  the  Committee 
on  Education,  did  not  receive  the  concurrence  of  the  Con 
vention. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  (the  fiftieth  day  of  the  Columbus  session,) 
the  following  report  was  presented  from  the  Standing  Com 
mittee  upon  Education : 

"  SECTION  1.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the 
election,  by  the  people,  of  a  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  whose  term  of  office,  duties,  and  compensation,  shall 
be  prescribed  by  law ;  and  shall  provide  for  the  election  or 
appointment  of  such  assistants,  or  other  officers  as  may  be 
found  necessary,  prescribe  their  duty,  term  of  office,  and  com 
pensation. 

"  SEC.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  encourage,  by  suit 
able  means,  the  promotion  of  moral,  intellectual,  scientific, 
and  agricultural  improvement. 

"  The  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  lands,  that  have  been,  or 
may  hereafter  be  granted  by  the  United  States,  for  educa 
tional  purposes,  and  all  lands  or  other  property  given  by 


CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION.  213 

individuals,  for  like  purposes,  together  with  the  surplus 
revenue,  deposited  with  this  State  by  the  United  States, 
(until  reclaimed,)  shall  be,  and  forever  remain  a  permanent, 
irreducible  fund ;  the  interest  and  income  therefrom  shall  be 
faithfully  applied  to  the  specific  objects  of  the  original  grant, 
gift,  or  appropriation. 

"  SEC.  3.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make  such  provi 
sion  by  taxation,  and  other  means,  (in  addition  to  the  income 
arising  from  the  irreducible  fund,)  as  will  secure  a  thorough 
and  efficient  system  of  common  schools,  free  to  all  the 
children  in  the  State. 

"  SEC.  4.  No  religious  sect,  or  party,  shall  ever  have  ex 
clusive  right  to,  or  control  of,  any  part  of  the  common  school 
funds  of  this  State. 

HARMON  STIDGER, 
SAMUEL  QUIGLEY, 
JAMES  W.  TAYLOR, 
JACOB  J.  GREENE, 
A.  G.  BROWN. 

Mr.  Curry  submitted  the  following  minority  report : 

"  SECTION  1.  Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge,  being 
essentially  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of 
mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  instruction  shall  forever 
be  encouraged  by  legislative  provision  not  inconsistent  with 
the  rights  of  conscience. 

"  SEC.  2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
provide,  by  law,  that  the  principal  of  all  funds  arising  from 
the  sale  of  lands  heretofore  or  hereafter  granted  or  donated, 
from  any  quarter,  for  educational  purposes,  together  with  the 
principal  which  may  be  realized  from  donations  of  personal 
property  and  money  for  like  purposes,  and  the  surplus 
revenue  deposited  with  this  State  by  the  United  States,  (until 
reclaimed,)  shall  be  preserved  inviolate  and  undiminished ; 
and  that  the  interest  and  income  arising  from  such  funds 
shall  be  faithfully  applied  to  the  object  of  the  original  gift  or 
grant:  Provided,  the  General  Assembly  may  at  their  discre 
tion,  appropriate  all  or  only  a  part  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sur 
plus  revenue  to  educational  purposes. 

"  SEC.  3.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the  elec 
tion  of  a  Superintendent  of  Schools  and  Seminaries  of  learn 
ing,  under  the  care  and  patronage  of  the  State.  They  may 
also  provide  for  the  election  or  appointment  of  such  assistant 
Superintendents  or  other  officers  as  may  be  necessary  to 


214  CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION. 

carry  into  effect  a  thorough  and  uniform  system  of  common 
school  education  ;  and  they  shall  prescribe  by  law  the  term:? 
of  office,  compensation,  powers,  and  duties,  of  all  officers 
elected  or  appointed  under  the  authority  of  this  section. 

"  SEC.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  by  law  a 
system  of  common  schools,  and  permanent  means  for  the 
support  thereof,  by  which  a  school  shall  be  kept  up  in  each 
school  district  in  this  State  not  less  than  six  months  in  each 
year,  and  which  shall  be  open  to  youth  of  all  classes,  under 
such  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law :  Provided^ 
that  black  and  mulatto  youth  shall  not  attend  the  schools  for 
white  youth,  unless  by  common  consent. 

"  SEC.  5.  Provision  shall  be  made  by  law  for  the  establish 
ment  and  support  of  as  many  normal  institutes  as  the  Gen 
eral  Assembly  may  find  to  be  necessary  for  the  thorough  in 
struction  of  professional  teachers  of  the  common  schools  of 
this  State ;  and  all  persons  applying  to  any  of  said  institutes 
for  admission  and  instruction,  shall  be  required,  before  ad 
mission,  to  give  such  assurance  as  may  be  specified  by  law 
of  their  intention  to  devote  themselves  to  teaching  as  a  pro 
fession. 

"  SEC.  6.  No  religious  sect  or  party  shall  ever  have  exclu 
sive  right  to,  or  control  of,  any  part  of  the  common  school 
fund,  or  of  any  of  the  schools,  seminaries,  or  institutions  of 
learning,  under  the  care  and  patronage  of  this  State. 

OTWAY  CUBBY. 

At  the  Cincinnati  session  the  foregoing  reports  were  fully 
discussed.  Upon  the  various  amendments  offered,  the  follow 
ing  points  were  elicited,  indicative  of  the  temper  of  the 
body. 

1.  That  it  was  inexpedient  to  limit  the  educational  bounty 
of  the  State  to  white  children,  by  any  terms  of  direct  exclu 
sion  ;   but  how  far  colored   children  should  be  entitled  to 
public  instruction,  was  made  a  subject  of  unrestricted  legis 
lative  cognizance. 

2.  Propositions  to  augment  the  State  school  fund  to  a  sum 
which  would  produce  a  revenue  of  about  a  million  of  dollars, 
and  to  enjoin  a  minimum  of  six  months'  instruction,  were  not 
adopted — some  apprehending  that  the  people  would  not  sus 
tain  such  forward  movements,  while  others  believed  that  the 
Ohio  school  system  would  be  even  more  progressive  than  its 


CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION.  215 

most  sanguine  advocates  in  the  Convention  anticipated.     The 
experience  of  a  few  years  has  fully  vindicated  the  latter  view. 

3.  An  amendment,  directing  the  organization  of  normal 
institutes,  was  lost  by  twenty  to  fifty-seven. 

4.  Even  the  clause  establishing,  in  express  terms,  the  office 
of  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  was  not  retained  in 
the  final  action  of  the  Convention — the  precise  methods  of 
superintendence  being  left  to  legislative  discretion. 

ARTICLE  YI  of  the  Constitution — upon  "Education" — 
stands,  therefore,  in  that  instrument  as  follows  : 

"SECTION  1.  The  principal  of  all  funds  arising  from  the 
sale  or  other  disposition  of  lands,  or  other  property  granted 
or  intrusted  to  this  State  for  educational  and  religious  pur 
poses,  shall  forever  be  preserved  inviolate,  and  undiminished ; 
and,  the  income  arising  therefrom,  shall  be  faithfully  applied 
to  the  specific  objects  of  the  original  grants  or  appropriations. 

u  SEC.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make  such  pro 
visions  by  taxation,  or  otherwise,  as  with  the  income  arising 
from  the  school  trust  fund,  will  secure  a  thorough  and  efficient 
system  of  common  schools  throughout  the  State,  but  no  reli 
gious  or  other  sect  or  sects  shall  ever  have  any  exclusive  right 
to,  or  control  of,  any  part  of  the  school  funds  of  this  State," 

The  foregoing  guaranties,  indefinite  as  they  are,  have 
proved  ample  ;  and  the  legislative  history  of  the  State,  since 
1851,  fully  justifies  the  confidence  of  the  Convention  in  the 
representatives  of  the  people  of  Ohio. 


CHAPTEE    XVI. 

ORIGIN,  PROGRESS,  AND  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  ACT  OF 
MARCH  14,   1853. 

IT  devolved  upon  the  Senate  of  Ohio,  at  the  first  session  of 
the  General  Assembly,  to  initiate  the  very  important  measure 
which  is  the  topic  of  present  consideration.  The  Standing 


216  ORIGIN,    PROGRESS,    AND   PROVISIONS   OP 

Committee  of  that  legislative  branch  to  which  the  subject  of 
"  common  schools  and  school  lands"  was  committed,  consisted 
of  Harvey  Kice,  of  Cuyahoga,  George  Rex,  of  Wayne,  and 
Alonzo  Gushing,  of  Gallia.  On  the  the  29th  of  March,  1852, 
they  reported  the  Senate  bill,  No.  94,  "to  provide  for  the 
re-organization,  supervision,  and  maintenance^  of  common 
schools."  It  reached  its  second  reading,  April  1st,  after  which 
it  was  committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  made 
the  order  for  the  same  day ;  but  it  was  not  reached  in 
Committee  until  the  13th  of  April.  Its  discussion  continued 
until  the  15th,  when  the  Committee  rose,  and  the  bill,  with 
various  amendments,  was  tabled  for  the  residue  of  the  session. 

Its  consideration  was  resumed  almost  immediately  upon 
the  re-assemblage  of  the  Senate,  at  the  adjourned  session  of 
1852-3.  After  another  elaborate  discussion,  in  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  from  November  18th  to  December  6th,  almost  con 
tinuously,  the  bill  was  re-committed,  with  pending  amend 
ments,  to  the  Standing  Committee  on  Schools  and  School  lands. 
The  Committee  were  also  instructed  to  state  in  the  bill  which 
they  should  report,  "  the  school  funds  therein  contemplated  for 
the  number  of  months  enjoined  to  be  taught  annually."  The 
Committee  reported  on  the  12th  of  January,  1853 ;  another 
discussion  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  occupied  the  Senate  for 
three  days,  when  the  Senate  proceeded  to  vote  upon  the  nu 
merous  amendments  which  had  accumulated  during  this  pro 
tracted  debate,  upon  every  portion  of  the  bill.  The  most  im 
portant  of  these  in  which  the  Senate  concurred,  was  the 
organization  of  every  township  as  a  single  district,  under  the 
general  supervision  of  a  Board  of  Education,  and  a  division 
of  the  district  so  established,  as  a  school  corporation,  into 
sub-districts,  each  under  the  local  administration  of  three 
local  Directors,  one  of  whom,  when  appointed  Clerk,  was 
thereby  qualified  and  authorized  to  represent  the  sub-district 
in  the  central  Board  of  Education. 

Tlu»  following  propositions  did  not  command  a  majority: 
1.  To  pass  the  act  contingently  upon  its  approval,  by  a  popu 
lar  vote;  2.  To  require  the  establishment  of  schools  for 


THE   ACT   OF   MARCH    14,  1853.  217 

colored  youth  in  all  cases,  when  that  class  were  denied  admis 
sion  to  the  schools ;  3.  To  give  a  corporate  character,  with 
the  capacity  of  suing  and  being  sued,  and  holding  the  title  of 
school  property,  to  the  local  Directors  in  each  sub-district ;  4. 
And  to  limit  the  aggregate  of  State  taxes  levied  and  assessed 
under  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  to  two  mills  on  the  dollar. 
The  bill  was  ordered  to  be  engrossed  for  its  third  reading  four 
days  thereafter,  on  January  20th,  and  on  the  24th  passed  the 
Senate  with  but  two  dissenting  voices  —  yeas  22  ;  nays  2. 

The  House  Committee  upon  Common  Schools  and  School 
Lands,  to  whom  the  Senate  bill  was  committed,  after  a  brief 
consideration  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  consisted  of  S. 
Plumb,  of  Ashtabula,  C.  K.  Ward,  of  Crawford,  B.  II.  Alex 
ander,  of  Preble,  John  McClahanan,  of  Brown,  and  A.  C. 
Ramage,  of  Belmont.  They  reported  on  the  28th  of  Febru 
ary,  and  on  the  7th  of  March,  the  discussion  of  the  various 
amendments  proposed,  commenced  with  great  earnestness. 
On  the  suggestion  of  the  Standing  Committee,  the  following 
important  features  of  the  present  act  were  proposed:  1.  The 
last  clause  of  section  1,  securing  the  special  school  organiza 
tion  of  cities  or  incorporated  villages,  from  the  operation  of 
the  section ;  2.  The  body  of  section  8,  directing  the  October 
enumeration  of  youth  of  school  age — all  of  the  section,  in 
deed,  except  the  last  clause,  which  requires  the  township 
Clerk  to  transmit  an  abstract  thereof,  within  twenty  days,  to 
the  county  Auditor ;  3.  That  portion  of  section  16  which  au 
thorizes  the  formation  of  a  joint  sub-district  from  "  parts  of 
two  or  more  townships ; "  4.  The  provision,  as  it  now  stands 
in  sections  20  and  21,  for  the  establishment  of  central  or  high 
schools ;  5.  Section  22,  or  the  manner  in  which  the  assess 
ments  for  school  purposes,  by  Boards  of  Education,  are  ef 
fected  ;  6.  Section  24,  or  the  rule  for  the  disbursement  of 
school  funds  by  township  Treasurer;  7.  Section  32,  or  the 
authority  to  organize  cities  and  incorporated  villages,  when 
the  latter  has  a  population  of  three  hundred,  into  a  special 
district ;  8.  Section  68,  enabling  Boards  of  Education  to 
receive  and  hold  in  trust,  any  grant,  devise,  donation,  etc.,  for 


218  ORIGIN,    PROGRESS,    AND   PROVISIONS    OP 

the  use  of  any  school  in  their  jurisdiction;  9.  That  portion 
of  section  54  which  directs  the  State  Commissioner  of  Com 
mon  Schools  to  re-distribute  the  laws  relating  to  schools  and 
Teachers'  Institutes,  whenever  any  material  change  is  made  in 
their  provisions  ;  10.  The  last  clause  of  section  58,  which  for 
bids  the  purchase  for  school  libraries  of  books  of  a  sectarian  or 
denominational  character,  besides  many  verbal  amendments. 

Prior  to  the  third  reading  of  the  bill,  the  following  amend 
ments  were  offered,  and  rejected  by  the  House:  1.  Imposing 
a  fine  upon  parents  or  guardians  whose  children  or  wards, 
between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen,  do  not  attend 
school,  at  least  three  months  in  the  year — yeas  30,  nays  41 ; 
2.  To  strike  out  the  sections  establishing  the  office  of  School 
Commissioner — yeas  27,  nays  47  ;  3.  To^trike  out  the  provis 
ions  for  school  district  libraries — yeas  31,  nays  42  ;  4.  "  To 
re-commit  the  bill,  with  instructions  so  to  amend  the  same,  as 
to  provide  for  the  classification  of  the  enumerated  youth  of 
the  State,  in  such  manner  that  all  may  be  enabled  to  partici 
pate  in  the  advantages  of  the  schools,  without  any  interfer 
ence  with  religious  belief,  which  was  lost  without  a  division  ; 
5.  To  strike  out  the  provision  for  high  schools — yeas  23, 
nays  52. 

The  bill  was  read  the  third  time  on  the  5th  of  March,  and 
while  the  question  of  its  passage  was  pending,  further  amend 
ments  were  offered.  One,  adding  to  the  last  section  an  exten 
sion  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  school  officers  then  in  exist 
ence,  until  the  local  Directors,  provided  for  in  the  bill,  should 
be  elected  and  qualified,  was  agreed  to ;  another,  directing  a 
submission  of  the  bill  to  a  popular  vote,  was  rejected — yeas 
17,  nays  50 ;  and  a  third,  requiring  the  Treasurer  of  cities 
and  incorporated  villages  to  give  bond  for  the  security  of  all 
school  funds  coming  into  his  possession,  was  agreed  to  with 
out  a  division.  The  bill  passed  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  56 
yeas  to  20  nays. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  the  Senate  Committee  upon  common 
schools  and  school  lands,  to  whom  the  bill,  as  returned  from 
the  House,  had  been  committed,  reported  in  favor  of  the  bulk 


THE  ACT  OF  MAKGH  14,  1853.  219 

• 

of  House  amendments,  and  proposing  only  two  material 
amendments — one,  which  is  now  the  last  clause  of  section  8, 
directing  the  township  Clerk  to  return  an  abstract  of  the  Octo 
ber  enumeration  of  youth  to  the  county  Auditor  ;  and  another, 
now  section  47,  prescribing  the  term  of  office  and  manner  of 
election  of  the  State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  concurred  in.  During 
the  discussion,  Mr.  Finck  moved  to  add  to  section  24,  pro 
viding  the  manner  of  disbursing  the  funds  applicable  to  the 
payment  of  teachers,  the  following  proviso : 

"  Provided,  that  whenever  any  person  having  a  certificate 
authorizing  him  to  teach  school  in  any  county  in  this  State, 
shall  present  and  exhibit  to  the  Board  of  School  Directors  of 
any  township  of  the  proper  county,  a  certificate  signed  by  the 
local  Directors  of  any  of  the  districts  of  any  such  township  of 
having  taught  any  number  of  scholars  resident  in  said  town 
ship,  not  less  than  twenty,  who  have  not  attended  any  of  the 
other  common  schools  or  other  schools  named  in  this  act,  of 
the  township  during  the  year,  and  who  have  been  enumerated 
for  school  purposes,  stating  the  number  of  scholars  so  taught 
an'd  the  time  they  were  in  attendance,  the  said  township 
Board  shall  draw  the  proper  order  for  the  pro  rata  amount  to 
which  such  person  shall  be  entitled  for  such  services  from  the 
school  fund,  taking  into  consideration  the  number  of  scholars 
so  taught,  and  the  time  employed  by  such  teacher,  and  the 
same  shall  be  paid  from  the  school  fund,  as  in  other  cases  ; 
and  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  such  pro  rata  sum,  the 
said  Board  shall  ascertain  the  total  amount  of  school  fund  for 
the  proper  township  applicable  to  each  youth  entitled  thereto 
for  the  year,  and  shall  allow  such  teacher  upon  the  principles 
above  named." 

The  motion  to  amend  was  lost — yeas  8,  nays  18. 

The  original  Senate  bill  provided  for  the  purchase  of  Web 
ster's  Unabridged  Dictionary  for  the  use  of  schools.  The 
House  of  Representatives  struck  out  this  clause  by  their  forty- 
sixth  amendment.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Rice,  the  Senate  re 
tained  the  provision.  The  subject  was  referred  to  a  Commit 
tee  of  Conference,  and  the  Senate  finally  receded  from  its 
disagreement,  and  the  Dictionary  clause  was  omitted.  A 
full  concurrence  of  both  bodies  having  thus  been  attained, 


220  ORIGIN,    PROGRESS,    AND    PROVISIONS    OF 

• 

the  bill  became  a  law  on  the  14th  of  March,  1853.  Its  con 
sideration  had  been  marked  by  all  the  requisites  of  full  de 
liberation.  The  interval  between  the  regular  and  adjourned 
sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  had  been  improved  by 
Mr.  Rice,  the  author  of  the  bill,  for  a  thorough  canvass  of 
public  opinion ;  the  most  experienced  teachers  and  careful 
legislators  of  the  State  had  been  furnished  with  copies,  and 
their  suggestions  invited;  and  probably  no  similar  measure 
ever  engrossed  more  anxious  attention  than  did  the  well- 
known  "Senate  bill,  No.  94,"  from  the  beginning  to  the  close 
of  the  session  of  1852-3.  The  repealing  clause  displaced  a 
bulk  of  enactments  ten  times  greater  than  the  provisions  of 
the  bill,  although  the  latter  reached  sixty-nine  sections.  It 
was  with  a  decided  sensation  of  relief  that  the  public  learned 
of  the  existence  of  a  single  enactment  constituting  a  school 
code,  and  a  determination  universally  prevailed  to  submit  to 
much  inconvenience,  rather  than  involve  the  school  interests 
of  the  State  in  the  uncertainty  which  had  almost  reached  the 
extremity  of  Cimmerian  darkness,  during  the  preceding  ten 
years.  Of  course,  no  one  was  so  sanguine  as  to  expect  entire 
satisfaction  with  the  new  system.  It  embodies  some  import 
ant  changes,  though  these  were  less  numerous  and  important 
than  many  have  been  led  to  suppose.  Probably  two-thirds 
of  its  provisions  were  a  compilation  of  existing  legislation  ; 
while  the  new  features  of  the  act  of  March  14,  1853,  may  be 
briefly  presented  under  the  following  heads : 

A  STATE   SCHOOL  TAX. 

This,  -in  itself,  was  no  innovation.  A  State  common 
school  fund,  partly  raised  by  taxation,  had  been  long  in  ex 
istence,  and  as  recently  as  March  24,  1851,  an  act  was  passed 
providing  a  revenue  for  an  annual  distribution  of  $300,000. 
The  same  act  required  the  county  Commissioners  to  levy,  in 
addition  to  the  above  provision,  a  county  school  tax  of  not 
less  than  one  mill  on  the  dollar.  The  act  of  1853,  in  lieu  of 
this  mixed  State  and  county  taxation,  provided  for  "  the  an 
nual  levy  and  assessment  of  two  mills  on  the  dollar  valuation, 


THE   ACT   OF   MARCH   14,    1853. 


221 


(since  reduced  to  a  mill  and  a  half,)  on  the  grand  list  of  the 
taxable  property  of  the  State,"  and  directed  the  amount  so 
collected  to  be  "  annually  distributed  to  the  several  counties 
of  the  State,  in  proportion  to  the  enumeration  of  scholars, 
and  applied  exclusively  to  the  support  of  common  schools." 
This  change  in  the  method  of  distribution  has  led  to  much 
dissatisfaction  in  the  cities  of  the  State,  where  the  aggregate 
of  wealth  is  disproportionate  to  the  enumeration  of  youth : 
Hamilton  county,  for  instance,  contributing  to  the  State  school 
fund  about  twice  the  amount  which  the  enumeration  of  youth 
warrants  the  county  to  receive.  This  feature  of  the  law  is 
elsewhere  sustained  with  great  earnestness,  and  it  is  not  per 
tinent  to  the  object  of  these  pages  to  determine  the  merits  of 
the  controversy,  As  &  practical  illustration  of  the  operation 
of  the  provision  in  question,  it  may  be  well,  however,  to 
quote  from  the  report  of  the  School  Commissioner  for  1855, 
the  following  tabular  statement : 

LIST    OF    COUNTIES   WHICH    EECEIVED,    IN     1855,    MORE    THAN     THEY    CON 
TRIBUTED   TO   THE    STATE    COMMON    SCHOOL    FUND,    WITH 
THE    AMOUNTS    ANNEXED. 


COUNTIES. 

AMOUNT. 

COUNTIES. 

AMOUNT. 

COUNTIES. 

AMOUNT. 

Adams  
Allen  
Ashland  -  - 
Ashtabula  - 
Athens  
Auglaize  -  - 
Belmont  -  - 
Brown  
Carroll  -  -  - 
Clermont  - 
Columbiana 
Coshocton  - 
Crawford  -  - 
Darke  
Defiance  -  - 
Delaware  -  - 
Fulton  
Gallia  
Greauga  
Guernsey  - 
Hancock  -  - 

$5,071  85 
4,854  13 
2,219  03 
2,444  82 
6,685  37 
3,556  27 
2,836  31 
3,522  96 
2,644  98 
1,762  88 
3,038  38 
2,576  59 
1,746  01 
3,125  51 
2,945  36 
2,296  01 
4,899  10! 
5,138  091 
727  26, 
5,452  91 
4,548  35 

Hardin  
Henry  
Hocking  
Holmes  
Jackson  -  -  - 
Jefferson  

$1,385  20 
2,151  38 
5,944  37 
7,273  92 
4,400  98 
550  64 
491  83 
255  74 
3,563  43 
1,333  62 
2,122  60 
972  81 
1,308  82 
5,906  39 
3,586  97 
9,212  66 
5,017  87 
2,089  87 
6,510  34 
403  97 

Paulding  

$1,030  06 
4,308  42 
2,160  76 
2,994  70 
1,832  39 
3,259  47 
2,341  40 
3,007  13 
2,182  48 
21  65 
537  93 
3,775  23 
2,172  43 
2,180  28 
3,289  02 
7,421  20 
625  38 
4,728  51 
3,522  66 
863  02 

Pike  

Putnam  
Richland  
Sandusky  -  - 
Scioto  

Seneca 
Shelby  

Stnrlc 

Lawrence  -  - 
Logan  
Lorain  
Lucas  
Medina  
Mcigs  -  -  -  - 
Mercer  
Monroe  -  -  - 
Morgan  -  -  - 
Morrow  -  -  - 
Noble  
Ottawa  

Trumbull  -  - 
Tuscarawas  - 
Union  
Van  Wert  -  - 
Vinton  
Washington  - 
Wayne  
Williams  
Wood  
Wyandott-  - 

222 


ORIGIN,    PROGRESS,    AND    PROVISIONS    OP 


LIST   OF   COUNTIES  WHICH   CONTRIBUTED,    IN     1855,    TO   THE    STATE   COM 
MON    SCHOOL   FUND   MORE  THAN   THEY   RECEIVED,   WITH 
THE   AMOUNTS   ANNEXED. 


COUNTIES. 

AMOUNT.         COUNTIES. 

COUNTIES. 

AMOUNT. 

Butler  
Champaign 
Clark  
Clinton  
Cuyahoga  - 
Erie  
Fairfiekl  -  - 
Fayctte  -  - 
Franklin  -  - 

$9,467  00! 
3,502  18 
5,709  20! 
1,469  77! 
15,272  65j 
1,540  41 
2,382  72 
3,345  89: 
7,112  921 

Greene  
Hamilton  -  - 
Harrison  
Highland  -  - 
Huron  
Licking  -  -  - 
Madison  
S™  ahoning  -  - 
arion 

$6,739 
65,179 
695 
246 
984 
3,428 
6,417 
627 
2,383 

38|;Miami  
33j  Montgomery 
57  iMuskingum  - 
OOTickaway  -  - 
03  Portage  -  -  - 
38  ;Preble  
32  jRoss  

$1,914  49 
11,135  51 
584  27 
8,650  05 
2,786  63 
2,974  10 
6,270  42 
851  01 
5,698  73 

08  Summit  
37  1!  Warren  

The  aggregate  of  the  apportionment,  above  exemplified, 
was  $1,208,283.84. 

TOWNSHIP   BOARDS    OF   EDUCATION. 

Under  the  former  system,  the  township  Trustees  were 
vested  with  power  to  establish  and  alter  sub-districts ;  so  the 
clause  conferring  this  important  and  difficult  function  upon 
a  central  Board  is  not  without  precedent.  The  township 
Board  of  Education  established  by  the  act,  is  a  representative 
body,  consisting  of  that  local  Director  in  each  sub-district  who 
has  been  "chosen  Clerk  for  the  current  year ;  and  the  law  seeks 
to  confer  upon  the  Board  such  a  general  jurisdiction  as  may 
secure  uniformity  and  efficiency  to  the  school  system  of  the 
township,  and  yet  leave  to  the  local  Directors  the  direct  ad 
ministration  of  the  sub-district.  Here  is  a  divided  jurisdic 
tion  ;  and  in  some  instances  a  jar  of  the  machinery  is  una 
voidable  ;  but  the  experience  of  a  few  years  has  removed  this 
inconvenience  in  a  great  measure.  In  the  State  of  Indiana, 
even  in  the  rural  districts,  the  whole  administration  of  schools 
is  confided  to  a  township  Committee  of  three,  without  any  in 
tervention  whatever  by  local  Directors ;  but  our  system  has 
become  too  rigid  in  its  present  form  to  be  so  readily  displaced. 
Still  it  is  in  the  power  of  any  township  to  adopt  the  provis 
ions  of  the  Special  District  System  established  by  the  act  of 
February  21,  1849,  (Swan's  Revised  Statutes,  858,  862,)  and 
a  very  proper  amendment  of  the  act  of  1853,  would  be  to 


THE  ACT  OF  MARCH  14,  1853.  223 

allow  every  township,  as  well  as  cities  and  incorporated  vil 
lages,  to  extend  over  itself  the  single  district  organization 
provided  for  by  sections  32-36. 

An  analysis  of  different  parts  of  the  school  law  presents  the 
following  powers  and  duties  of  Boards  of  Education : 

1.  Section  11  defines  so  explicitly  the  corporate  character 
of  Boards  of  Education,  that  it  is  given  without  paraphrase: 
"  The  said  township  Board  of  Education  in  each  township  of 
the  State,  and  their  successors  in  office,  shall  be  a  body  politic 
and  corporate  in  law,  and  as  such  may  contract  and  be  con 
tracted  with,  sue  and  be  sued,  plead  and  be  impleaded,  in  any 
court  of  law  or  equity  in  this  State,  and  may  receive  any 
gift,  grant,  donation,  or  devise,   made   for  the  use  of  any 
school  or  schools  within  their  jurisdiction  ;  and,  moreover,  they 
shall  be  and  hereby  are  invested  in  their  corporate  capacity 
with  the  title,  care,  and  custody  of  all  school-houses,  school- 
house  sites,  school  libraries,  apparatus,  or  other  property  be 
longing  to  the  school  districts  as  now  organized,  or  which 
may  hereafter  be  organized,  within  the  limits  of  their  juris 
diction,  with  full  power  to  control  the  same  in  such  manner 
as  they  may  think  will  best  subserve  the  interests  of  common 
schools  and  the  cause  of  education ;  and  when,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Board,  any  school-house   or    school-house    site  has 
become  unnecessary,  they  may  sell  and  convey  the  same  in 
the  name  of  the  township  Board  of  Education  of  the  proper 
township  ;  such  conveyance  to  be  executed  by  the  Chairman 
and  Clerk  of  said  Board,  and  shall  pay  the  avails  over  to  the 
township  Treasurer  of  the  proper  township,  for  the  benefit  of 
schools,  and  all  conveyances   of  real  estate  which  may  be 
made  to  said  Board,  shall  be  to  said  Board  in  their  corporate 
name,  and  to  their  successors  in  office." 

2.  The  regular  sessions  of  the  Board  are  on  the  third  Mon 
day  of  April  and  October,  with  power  to  adjourn  from  time 
to  time,  and  to  hold  special  meetings.     At  each  meeting,  a 
Chairman  from  their  number  must  be  appointed,  and  also  a 
Clerk,  pro  tempore,  if  the  township  Clerk  is  absent.    Sec.  12. 

3.  They  have    the  exclusive   control  of   central  or  high 


224  ORIGIN,    PROGRESS,    AND   PROVISIONS   OP 

schools,  when  the  people  of  a  township,  in  the  manner  pre 
scribed  by  section  21,  have  authorized  the  same ;  and  also  of 
sub-district  schools,  when  the  local  Directors  shall  neglect  to 
discharge  their  duties  ;  it  is  their  duty  to  prescribe  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  government  of  all  the  common  schools 
within  their  jurisdiction ;  they  determine  a  course  of  study, 
select  suitable  text-books,  and  have  the  complete  charge  of 
the  library,  with  the  title  of  the  books,  and  the  appointment 
of  Librarian ;  and  upon  them  is  devolved  the  necessity  of 
making  the  annual  return  of  school  statistics  to  the  county 
Auditor.  Sections  13,  17  19,  21. 

4.  The  adjustment  of  sub-districts  within  their  township, 
the  formation  of  joint  sub-districts  from  a  part  of  their  town 
ship,  and  part  or  parts  adjacent,  the  distribution  of  pupils  to 
schools  of  different  grades,  and  a  general  discipline  of  the 
schools,  are  devolved  upon  Boards  of  Education,  by  sections 
14,  15,  and  16. 

5.  They  are  required  to  establish  a  school  in  each  sub-dis 
trict  of  the  township  of  such   grade  as  the  public  good,  in 
their  opinion,  requires,  and  can  be  compelled  to  sustain  the 
same  seven  months  of  the  year,  by  a  levy  not  exceeding  two 
mills  on  the  dollar  valuation  of  the  taxable  property  of  the 
township.     That  assessment  can  not  be  exceeded  for  the  pur 
pose  of  tuition  and  sustaining  central  or  high  schools  ;  but  to 
that  limit  the   Board  can  be  required   to  go,  if  necessary 
to   prolong  the   schools   seven    months   in   the    year.      On 
this  point  the  law  is  imperative,  the  last  clause  of  section  24 
reading  as  follows  :  "  Each  township  Board  shall  make  the 
necessary  provisions  for  continuing  the  schools  in  operation 
in  their  respective  townships  for  at  least  seven  months  in 
each  year."     See  sections  14,  22,  24. 

6.  The  subject  of  school-house  construction  is  the  peculiar 
province  of  Boards  of  Education.     The  title  of  all   school 
property  is  vested  in  them;  they  are  the  only  school  organi 
zation  legally  responsible;    their  power  of  taxation  for  the 
purpose  of  building  school-houses,  or,  in  the  language  of  the 
act,   "for  school  purposes  other  than  for  the    payment  of 


THE  ACT  OF  MARCH  14,  1853.  225 

teachers,"  is  unlimited  ;  and  on  their  estimate  and  certificate, 
the  Auditor  of  the  county  must  make  the  required  assess 
ments.  Ordinarily  this  taxation  for  school-house  construction 
is  collected  from  the  whole  township ;  but  section  23  recog 
nizes  a  discretion  in  the  Board  to  authorize  a  special  levy  on 
a  sub -district  of  "  a  just  and  equitable  portion  of  the  amount 
requisite  to  build  a  school-house,  when  the  inhabitants  have 
not  heretofore  borne  a  reasonable  share  of  taxation  for  such 
purpose,  in  comparison  with  other  sub-districts  of  the  town 
ship."  There  is  ground  to  apprehend  that  the  exception  here 
recognized  too  often  becomes  the  rule.  See  sections  22 
and  23. 

7.  They  are  authorized  to  provide  German  schools  for  the 
instruction  of  such  youths  as  may  desire  to  study  the  German 
language,  or  the  German  and  English  languages  together, 
(section  13,)  while  schools  for  colored  children  are  provided 
for  by  section  31,  which  is  as  follows : 

"  The  township  Boards  of  Education  in  this  State,  in  their 
respective  townships,  and  the  several  other  Boards  of  Educa 
tion,  and  the  Trustees,  Visitors,  and  Directors  of  Schools,  or 
other  officers  having  authority  in  the  premises,  of  each  city  or 
incorporated  village,  shall  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized 
and  required  to  establish  within  their  respective  jurisdictions, 
one  or  more  separate  schools  for  colored  children,  when  the 
whole  number  by  enumeration  exceeds  thirty,  so  as  to  afford 
them,  as  far  as  practicable  under  all  circumstances,  the  ad 
vantages  and  privileges  of  a  common  school  education ;  and 
all  such  schools  so  established  for  colored  children  shall  be 
under  the  control  and  management  of  the  Board  of  Educa 
tion,  or  other  school  officers  who  have  in  charge  the  educa 
tional  interests  of  the  other  schools  ;  but  in  case  the  average 
number  of  colored  children  in  attendance  shall  be  less  than 
fifteen  for  any  one  month,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Board 
of  Education,  or  other  school  officers,  to  discontinue  said 
school  or  schools  for  any  period  not  exceeding  six  months  at 
any  one  time  ;  and  if  the  number  of  colored  children  shall  be 
less  than  fifteen,  the  Directors  shall  reserve  the  money  raised 
on  the  number  of  said  colored  children,  and  the  money  so  re 
served  shall  be  appropriated  for  the  education  of  such  colored 
children  under  the  direction  of  the  township  Board." 

8.  A  very  important  provision  is  contained  in  section  13, 

15 


ORIGIN,    PROGRESS,    AND    PROVISIONS   OF 

which  authorizes  a  Board  of  Education  to  appoint  one  of 
their  number  the  Acting  Manager  of  Schools  for  the  township, 
with  such  duties  as  the  Board  may  proscribe  in  relation  to  the 
management  and  supervision  of  the  different  schools,  and  the 
educational  interests  of  the  township.  He  may  be  allowed  a 
reasonable  compensation  for  his  services,  but  for  the  usual 
services  of  members  of  a  Board  of  Education,  the  law  pro 
vides  no  compensation. 

A  satisfactory  method  of  determining  the  powers  and  duties 
of  local  Directors,  is  to  study  carefully  the  foregoing  provis 
ions,  and  assume  that  whatever  school  jurisdiction  has  been 
customary  in  this  State,  which  is  not  expressly  granted  to 
Boards  of  Education,  remains  vested  in  the  local  Directors. 
More  than  this :  In  the  absence  of  such  rules  and  regulations 
as  a  Board  of  Education  might  establish,  local  Directors 
would  unquestionably  be  recognized  as  the  agents  of  the 
Board  for  the  transaction  of  whatever  may  seem  to  be  for  the 
interest  of  the  schools.  It  is  in  the  power  of  a  Board,  at  any 
time,  to  resume  their  functions ;  but  as  long  as  they  tacitly 
abdicate  them,  great  indulgence  should  be  extended  to  the 
action  of  the  Directors. 

FREEDOM    OF   THE    SCHOOL    SYSTEM. 

This  expression  is  somewhat  indefinite ;  but  it  is  intended 
to  express  the  fact,  that  the  act  of  1853  proposes,  as  the  object 
of  the  taxation  and  organization  thereby  authorized,  to  afford 
"  the  advantages  of  a  free  education  to  all  the  youth  of  this 
State,"  and  accordingly  sweeps  from  the  statute  book  every 
enactment  imposing  a  rate-bill  upon  the  parents  or  guardians 
of  the  children  in  attendance.  While  gifts,  grants,  devises, 
donations,  etc.,  in  aid  of  the  munificent  provision  by  legisla 
tion,  are  welcomed  as  sacred  trusts,  yet  it  is  the  crowning 
glory  of  the  Ohio  system,  that  in  all  her  schools,  education, 
like  justice,  is  unsold — never  denied.  To  accomplish  such  a 
result  without  convulsion,  and  with  the  universal  acclamation 
of  her  people,  is  a  proud  record  in  the  annals  of  the  common 
wealth. 


THE   ACT   OF   MARCH    14,    1853.  227 

SCHOOL   DISTRICT   LIBRARIES. 

Another  new  feature  of  the  school  act  has  long  been 
known,  and  favorably  known,  to  the  systems  of  other  States, 
namely  :  the  provision  for  school  district  libraries. 

"  The  law  devotes  one-tenth  of  a  mill  upon  the  dollar  val 
uation,  on  the  grand  list  of  property  taxable  for  State  purposes, 
as  an  annual  fund  '  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  school  libra 
ries  and  apparatus  to  all  the  common  schools  of  the  State,' 
and  provides  that  '  every  family  in  each  district  or  sub-dis 
trict,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  use  of  one  volume  at  a  time  from 
the  school  library,  although  no  member  of  such  family  attend 
any  of  the  schools  of  the  township.'  The  township  Boards 
of  Education  are  vested  with  the  power  to  '  make  and  enforce 
such  rules  relative  to  the  use  and  preservation  of  the  school 
libraries  and  apparatus,  as  they  may  think  advisable,'  includ 
ing  the  appointment  and  direction  of  Librarians.  These  libra 
ries  are  '  deemed  the  property  of  said  several  Boards,  or  local 
school  officers,  to  whom  the  same  may  have  been  delivered, 
and  shall  not  be  subject  to  execution,  sale,  or  alienation,  for 
any  cause  whatever.'  Section  51  further  provides  that  'as 
soon  as  the  revenue  raised  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the 
common  schools  with  libraries  and  apparatus,  will  admit,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  State  Commissioners  of  Common 
Schools  to  purchase  the  same,  and  the  books  and  apparatus 
so  purchased  shall  be  distributed  through  the  Auditor's  office 
of  each  county,  to  the  Board  of  Education  in  each  township, 
city,  or  incorporated  village,  according  to  the  enumeration  of 
scholars.' 

"Perhaps  no  single  recommendation  has  been  more  fre 
quently  made  by  State  officers  charged  with  the  superintend 
ence  of  common  schools,  than  some  public  provision  for  town 
ship  or  district  libraries." 

SUPERVISION    OF   THE   SYSTEM. 

In  accordance  with  the  example  of  all  the  States  distin 
guished  by  their  systems  of  public  instruction,  and  the  ear 
nest  recommendation  of  all  who  have  ever  had  a  practical 
acquaintance  with  the  subject,  the  Legislature  deemed  their 
labor  incomplete,  until  a  separate  school  department  was 
organized  at  the  seat  of  Government,  presided  over  by  an 
officer,  designated  in  the  act  as  a  State  Commissioner  of 
Common  Schools.  Sections  47  to  57  are  occupied  with  the 


228  ORIGIN,    PROGRESS, 

requisitions  upon  him.  Elected  for  three  years,  with  a  salary 
of  $1,500,  he  is  required  to  execute  a  bond  in  the  sum  of 
$10,000,  and  take  an  oath  of  office ;  to  spend  annually,  at 
least  ten  days  in  each  of  the  nine  judicial  districts  of  the 
State,  superintending  and  encouraging  Teachers'  Institutes, 
conferring  with  township  Boards  of  Education,  or  other  school 
officers,  counseling  teachers,  visiting  schools,  and  delivering 
lectures  on  topics  calculated  to  subserve  the  interests  of  popu 
lar  education  ;  to  purchase  and  distribute  school  district  libra 
ries  ;  to  exercise  such  supervision  over  the  educational  funds 
of  the  State  as  may  be  necessary  to  secure  their  safety  and 
right  application  and  distribution  according  to  law ;  and,  to 
that  end,  to  require  reports  from  all  county  municipal  or 
school  officers  in  the  State  ;  to  prepare  and  circulate  suitable 
forms  and  regulations  for  making  all  reports  and  conducting 
all  necessary  proceedings  under  the  school  act ;  to  distribute 
copies  of  laws  relating  to  schools  and  Teachers'  Institutes,  from 
time  to  time,  with  suitable  forms  and  instructions ;  and  to 
make  an  annual  report,  embracing  full  statistics  of  the  public 
schools  and  school  funds.  He  is  also  required  to  keep  an 
office  at  the  seat  of  Government,  and  attend  the  same,  when 
not  absent  on  public  business. 

Thus  has  been  enumerated  the  distinctive  features  of  the 
school  legislation  of  1853.  For  the  rest  of  its  provisions, 
they  constitute  a  digest  of  pre-existing  acts,  modified  slightly 
BO  as  to  conform  to  the  new  order  of  things. 

Local  Director s.  were  a  familiar  organization.  Their  num 
ber  was  unaltered,  but  only  one  is  elected  annually,  serving 
three  years.  This  gives  greater  permanence  to  the  body.  It 
is  devolved  upon  them  to  take  the  annual  enumeration  of 
youth  in  October ;  to  manage  and  control  the  local  interests 
and  affairs  of  the  sub-district;  to  employ  teachers,  certify  the 
amount  due  them  for  services,  and  dismiss  them  on  sufficient 
irroiiii-U  ;  to  visit  the  schools  at  least  twice  during  each  term, 
l»y  0110  or  more  of  their  number ;  to  negotiate  and  maki*.  nn<J>  r 
Suck  rules  and  regulations  as  tha  township  Board  may  pre- 
tcribe,  all  necessary  contracts  in  relation  to  providing  fuel  for 


TIIE   ACT    OF   MARCH    14,    1853.  229 

schools,  repairing,  building,  or  furnishing  school-houses,  pur 
chasing  or  leasing  school-house  sites,  renting  school-rooms, 
and  making  all  other  provisions  necessary  for  the  convenience 
and  prosperity  of  schools  within  their  sub-district,  provided 
such  contracts  do  not  exceed  the  sub-district  share  of  school 
funds  applicable  to  the  above  purposes,  unless  the  Board  of 
Education  first  approve  of  the  same ;  and  whatever  contracts 
are  made  by  the  Directors  are  to  be  promptly  reported  to  the 
township  Board.  In  case  of  vacancy  occurring,  otherwise 
than  by  a  failure  to  elect  at  a  regular  April  meeting,  the 
towrnship  Clerk  appoints  for  the  residue  of  the  unexpired 
term  ;  but  in  the  exceptional  case,  the  former  incumbent  con 
tinues  in  office,  unless  the  electors  summon  a  special  meeting, 
as  provided  in  section  4,  and  choose  a  successor. 

The  act  also  contains  a  system  of  special  school  districts, 
similar  to  the  provisions  of  the  Akron  and  similar  enact 
ments,  the  advantages  of  which  are  only  available  to  cities 
and  incorporated  villages  having  a  population  of  three  hun 
dred,  when  a  majority  of  the  electors  have  decided  to  assume 
the  form  of  organization  thus  provided,  in  preference  to  the 
general  system  of  the  act.  See  sections  32  to  36. 

The  office  of  district  Treasurer  is  abolished,  and  all  the 
duties  of  that  officer,  as  detailed  in  prior  acts,  are  devolved 
upon  the  township  Treasurer. 

The  township  Clerk  is,  ex  officio,  Clerk  of  the  Board  of 
Education;  he  draws  orders  in  favor  of  teachers  upon  the  town 
ship  Treasurer  on  the  certificate  of  local  Directors,  or  the  order 
of  the  Board  of  Education.  In  case  of  neglect  by  the  local  Di 
rectors,  he  must  take  the  October  enumeration  of  youth,  and 
return  an  abstract  of  the  same  to  the  county  Auditor ;  he  is 
Clerk  of  all  meetings  relating  to  high  schools ;  and  in  case 
of  forfeiture  of  the  township  Treasurer's  bond,  it  is  his  duty 
to  prosecute  and  collect  the  same  for  the  use  of  the  schools  in 
the  township. 

The  county  Auditor  is  still,  ex  officio,  county  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools ;  and  is  required  to  report  the  statistics 
returned  to  him,  by  Boards  of  Education,  annually  to  the 


230  ORIGIN,    PROGRESS,    AND    PROVISIONS   OF 

State  School  Commissioner.  The  apportionment  of  school 
funds  by  the  Auditor  of  State,  to  the  different  counties,  and 
by  the  Auditors  of  counties  to  the  school  corporations,  is  tlius 
regulated  by  the  act  : 


.  37.  The  Auditor  of  State  shall,  annually,  apportion 
the  common  school  funds  among  the  different  counties,  upon 
the  enumeration  and  returns  made  to  him  by  the  State  Com 
missioner  of  Common  Schools,  and  certify  the  amount  so 
apportioned  to  the  county  Auditor  of  each  county,  stating 
from  what  sources  the  same  is  derived,  which  said  sum  the 
several  county  Treasurers  shall  retain  in  their  respective 
treasuries  from  the  State  funds  ;  and  the  county  Auditors 
shall,  annually,  and  immediately  after  their  annual  settlement 
with  the  county  Treasurer,  apportion  the  school  funds  for 
their  respective  counties,  according  to  the  enumeration  and 
returns  in  their  respective  offices  ;  and  no  township  or  other 
district,  city  or  village,  which  shall  have  failed  to  make  and 
return  such  enumeration,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  any  por 
tion  of  the  common  school  funds.  And  in  making  such 
distribution,  each  county  Auditor  shall  apportion  all  moneys 
collected  on  the  tax  duplicate  of  any  township,  for  the  use  of 
schools,  to  such  township  ;  all  moneys  received  from  the 
State  treasury,  on  account  of  interest  on  the  money  accruing 
from  the  sale  of  section  sixteen,  or  other  lands  in  lieu  thereof, 
to  the  civil  townships  and  parts  of  civil  townships  in  the 
original  surveyed  township,  or  fractional  township,  to  which 
such  land  belongs  ;  all  moneys  received  by  the  county  Treas 
urer  on  account  of  the  Virginia  military  school  fund,  United 
States  Military  District,  and  Connecticut  Western  Reserve, 
according  to  laws  regulating  the  same  ;  and  all  other  moneys 
for  the  use  of  schools  in  the  county,  and  not  otherwise  appro 
priated  by  law,  to  the  proper  township  ;  and  he  shall,  imme 
diately  after  making  said  apportionment,  enter  the  same  into  a 
book  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  furnish  the  town 
ship  Treasurers  and  township  Clerks,  Treasurers,  and  Re 
corders  of  incorporated  cities  or  villages,  as  the  case  may  be, 
each  with  a  copy  of  said  appointment,  and  give  an  order  on 
the  county  Treasurer  to  each  township  Treasurer,  or  to  such 
Treasurer  as  may  be  entitled  to  receive  the  same,  for  the 
amount  of  money  belonging  to  his  respective  township,  city, 
or  village,  and  take  a  receipt  from  such  Treasurer  fur  the 
amount  thus  received  ;  and  the  said  county  Auditor  shall 
collect,  or  cause  to  be  collected,  the  fines  and  all  other  moneys 
for  school  purposes,  in  his  county,  and  pay  the  same  over  to 


THE   ACT    OF   MARCH    14,    1853.  231 

the  county  Treasurer;  and  he  shall  inspect  all  accounts  of 
interest  for  section  sixteen,  or  other  school  lands,  whether  the 
interest  is  paid  by  the  State  or  by  the  debtors,  and  take  all 
the  proper  measures  to  secure  to  each  township  its  full  amount 
of  school  funds. 

"  SEC.  38.  When  any  original  surveyed  township  in  which 
section  sixteen  has  been  sold,  shall  lie  in  two  or  more 
counties,  the  Auditors  of  the  respective  counties  shall  certify 
to  the  Auditor  of  the  county  in  which  that  portion  of  said 
township  lies,  containing  said  section  sixteen,  the  enumeration 
of  the  scholars  in  that  part  of  said  township  embraced  within 
their  respective  counties  ;  and  the  Auditor  of  said  county  in 
which  said  section  sixteen  is  situate,  shall  apportion  the  fund 
derived  from  said  section  sixteen  to  the  different  portions  of 
said  township,  according  to  said  enumeration,  and  shall  certify 
to  the  Auditors  of  the  other  counties  the  amount  belonging  to 
the  parts  of  said  township  situate  in  their  respective  counties, 
and  draw  an  order  in  favor  of  the  Treasurers  of  the  other 
counties  on  the  Treasurer  of  his  own  county  for  the  amount 
going  to  each ;  and  the  Auditors  of  the  respective  counties 
shall  apportion  the  same,  in  their  respective  counties,  to  such 
portions  or  parts  thereof  as  may  be  entitled  thereto. 

"  SEC.  39.  The  interest  on  the  purchase  of  any  such  section 
sixteen  belonging  to  any  such  original  surveyed  township,  so 
as  aforesaid,  lying  in  two  or  more  counties,  shall  be  paid  over 
on  the  order  of  the  Auditor  of  that  county  in  which  such  sec 
tion  sixteen  is  embraced,  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  same  county, 
to  be  apportioned  as  is  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  section." 

The  act  is  not  unlike  former  legislation  in  the  organization 
of  a  Board  of  School  Examiners.  They  are  appointed  by  the 
Probate  Judge  three  in  number,  for  the  term  of  two  years ; 
and  the  indispensable  branches  for  a  candidate's  certificate 
are,  "  Orthography,  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Geog 
raphy,  and  English  Grammar."  The  compensation  for  Exam 
iners  is  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  every  day  necessarily 
engaged  in  official  service,  to  be  paid  from  the  county 
treasury. 

Among  the  miscellaneous  provisions,  school-houses  with 
an  in  closure  not  exceeding  four  acres,  are  exempted  from  sale 
on  execution.  Prior  debts  of  school  districts  must  be  pro 
vided  for  by  township  Boards.  The  process  against  a  township 


232  RECENT   EVENTS   OF   EDUCATIONAL    INTEREST. 

Board  is  by  summons,  executed  by  leaving  a  copy  thereof 
with  the  Clerk  or  Secretary  of  such  Board,  or  other  school 
officer,  at  least  ten  days  before  the  return  thereof;  and 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  Prosecuting  Attorney  to  attend  to  all 
suits  for  or  against  a  Board.  Provision  is  made  for  the  adop 
tion  of  the  organization  of  the  school  act,  by  any  municipal 
ity  organized  under  a  special  law.  The  Akron  law  of  Feb 
ruary  8,  1847,  and  the  acts  amendatory  thereto,  the  "  act  for 
the  better  regulation  of  schools  in  cities,  towns,  etc.,"  passed, 
February  21,  1849,  and  the  acts  amendatory  thereto,  besides 
other  acts  creating  special  school  districts,  were  continued  in 
force,  except  that  the  rules  established  for  the  compilation  of 
statistics,  and  the  apportionment  of  school  funds,  are  in  all 
cases  to  govern.  Boards  of  Education  may  hold  any  grant 
or  devise,  gift,  etc.,  for  the  use  of  public  schools  ;  and  until  the 
first  officers  elected  under  the  law  are  qualified,  all  former 
school  officers  are  recognized,  and  their  acts  made  effect 
ive.  The  repealing  clause,  which  was  voluminous,  protected 
all  obligations,  liabilities,  and  rights  acquired  under  the  acts 
repealed. 

At  the  session  of  1852,  a  law  providing  for  the  sale  of  sec 
tion  sixteen,  w^as  passed,  (see  Appendix,  "  School  Laws  in 
Force,"  chapter  xvn,)  and  in  1853,  an  act  regulating  the 
schools  of  Cincinnati,  (see  Appendix,  u  School  Laws  in 
Force,"  chapter  xxi.) 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

RECENT  EVENTS  OF  EDUCATIONAL  INTEREST. 

So  far  in  advance  of  the  expectations  of  the  most  sanguine 
advocates  of  the  constitutional  article  upon  education,  was 
the  legislative  response  of  1853  to  the  injunction  in  favor  of 


RECENT    EVENTS    OF    EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST.  233 

"  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  common  schools  through 
out  the  State,"  that  many  apprehensions  prevailed  among  the 
friends  of  education,  that  too  much  had  been  suddenly  under 
taken.  But,  although  a  reaction  was  apparent,  yet  it  has 
been  unable,  as  yet,  to  impair  the  foundations  of  the  new  and 
imposing  structure.  The  State  school  tax,  at  the  session  of 
1854,  was  reduced  from  two  mills  to  a  mill  and  a  half;  nev 
ertheless,  in  the  presence  of  a  grand  duplicate,  much  enlarged 
by  the  re-valuation  of  real  estate  in  1852-53,  and  the  legisla 
tion  pursuant  to  the  new  Constitution,  the  amount  collected  by 
the  lesser  rate  was  $1,208,283.84,  against  $1,118,089.02, 
which  was  the  proceeds  of  the  two  mill  levy  of  1853. 

Still  the  pressure  upon  the  second  General  Assembly, 
under  the  Constitution  of  1851,  was  very  formidable.  The 
Senate  Committee  upon  Common  Schools  and  School  Lands, 
urged  a  further  trial  of  the  act  which  had  so  recently  gone 
into  operation,  not  only  on  the  ground  that  its  provisions  had 
not  been  fairly  tested,  but  the  argument  of  their  report  did  not 
rest  here,  and  vindicated,  with  fullness  and  force,  the  leading 
provisions  of  the  law.  The  House  Committee  conceded  that 
the  act  of  1853  needed  amendment,  and  reported  a  bill  em 
bracing  the  following  modifications : 

1.  To  extend  the  limits  of  a  district  so  as  to  include  all  ter 
ritory  annexed  to  any  of  its  sub-districts,  in  order  to  obviate 
the  difficulties  in  managing  and  supporting  a  school  at  the 
expense  of  more  than  one  corporate  body. 

2.  To  allow  Boards  of  Education  to  modify  the  distribution 
of  school  funds,  according  to  the  local  wants  of  sub-districts, 
and   not    peremptorily,  according  to    enumeration,    as   the 
Supreme  Court,  in  1855,  decided  to  be  the  true  construction 
of  the  law. 

3.  Restricting  Boards  of  Education  in  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  changing  the  boundaries  of  sub-districts,  by  a  pro 
vision  that  such  alteration  be  made  at  a  regular  session,  after 
public  notice  of  the  proposed  change,  and  in  case  of  difficulty 
or  disagreement,  that  a  vote  of  the   people  should  be  deci 
sive  of  the  matter. 


234  RECENT    EVENTS    OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST. 

4.  A  proposition  to  reduce  the  State  levy  for  schools,  one- 
fourth,  which  was  doue. 

5.  A  section  giving  the  power  to  condemn  private  property 
for  school-house  sites.     It  is  remarkable  that  no  such  power 
has  been  granted  to  school  corporations,  while  so  many  pri 
vate  associations  are  clothed  with  it. 

With  the  exception  of  the  fourth  point,  none  of  the  fore 
going  recommendations  were  agreed  to.  They  were  dictated 
by  no  hostile  feeling,  and  will  probably  be  revived  at  no  dis 
tant  day. 

At  the  session  of  1856,  elaborate  reports  were  presented  to 
both  branches  of  the  Legislature.  The  Senate  Committee 
upon  Schools  and  School  Lands,  consisting  of  Herman  Can- 
field,  of  Medina,  Felix  Marsh,  of  Preble,  and  M.  D.  Hardy, 
of  Noble,  reported  adversely  to  memorials  asking  the  Legis 
lature  to  abolish  the  office  of  School  Commissioner,  and  the 
system  of  district  libraries ;  in  favor  of  retaining  the  present 
method  of  examining  teachers,  and  the  mill  and  a  half  assess 
ment  for  a  State  school  fund  ;  and  against  the  expediency  of 
erecting  the  office  of  county  Superintendent,  at  the  present 
juncture  ;  but  they  reported  a  bill  which  proposed  the  follow 
ing  modifications  of  sections  twenty-two  and  twenty-four,  of 
the  act  of  1853 : 

1.  To  limit  the  power  of  taxation  by  township  Boards  of 
Education  to  one  mill,  for  sustaining  central  or  high  schools, 
where  established,  one  mill  for  prolonging  sub-district  schools 
after  the  State  funds  are  exhausted,  and  one  mill  for  school- 
house  construction  and  other  necessary  expenditures.     An 
other  clause  fixed  the  maximum  of  taxation  at  three  mills, 
unless,  at  a  special  meeting  called  for  the  express  purpose  of 
determining  the  question,  a  majority  should  vote  in  favor  of 
an  increased  rate  of  taxation. 

2.  Another  amendment,  suggested  by  a  recent  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  allowed  the  Board  of  Education  to  vary 
from  the  ordinary  rule,  for  distributing  funds  applicable  to 
the  payment  of  teachers,  (according  to  the  enumeration  of 
youth,)  so  far  as  to  prolong  the  schools  at  least  six  months  in 


RECENT   EVENTS    OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST.  235 

the  year,  by  an  apportionment  of  the  township  fund  raised 
for  that  purpose,  according  to  the  particular  wants  of  each 
sub-district. 

3.  The  minimum  time  in  which  Boards  of  Education  are 
required  to  sustain  schools,  was  proposed  to  be  reduced  from 
seven  to  six  months. 

The  House  Committee,  consisting  of  James  Monroe,  of 
Lorain,  "W.  Hendren,  of  Delaware,  and  C.  Hendenhall,  of 
Jefferson,  reported  very  distinctly  against  any  modification 
of  the  school  act,  except  to  limit  the  taxation  for  school-house 
and  incidental  purposes  to  a  mill  and  a-half  (unless  a  prop 
osition  for  a  higher  rate  was  adopted  in  township  meeting,) 
to  reduce  the  minimum  of  instruction  to  six  months,  and 
suffer  a  distribution  of  the  township  tuition  fund  at  the  dis 
cretion  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  formidable  demonstration  of  hostility, 
especially  to  the  office  of  State  School  Commissioner  and 
the  School  District  Libraries,  was  organized  in  the  Legisla 
ture  ;  and  an  amendment  to  the  bill  of  the  House  Committee 
prevailed  in  that  body,  abolishing  those  features  of  the  law. 
With  this  addition,  the  bill  became  obnoxious  to  its  original 
friends,  and  the  practical  result  occurred,  that  no  change  in 
the  school  law  was  able  to  command  a  majority  of  either 
branch  of  the  General  Assembly ;  although,  by  an  omission 
to  renew  the  levy  of  a  tenth  of  a  mill  for  library  purposes, 
the  distribution  of  books  and  apparatus  was  suspended  for 
the  current  year. 

Incidentally,  however,  to  a  revision  of  the  law  relating 
to  the  public  printing,  an  important  change  in  the  adminis 
tration  was  effected.  A  proviso  to  section  six,  of  "an  act 
providing  for  recording,  and  printing  and  distributing  the 
journals  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the  laws  and  public 
documents,"  passed  April,  8,  1856.,  directs  that  "the 
school  year  shall  begin  on  the  1st  day  of  September  annually, 
(instead  of  the  15th  of  November,)  and  close  on  the  last  day 
of  the  following  August;  and,  that  all  school  officers  and 
township  officers  acting  as  such,  who  are  or  may  be  required 


236  RECENT    EVENTS    OF    EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST. 

to  make  annual  reports  to  the  county  Auditor,  shall  make 
out  the  same  and  transmit  them  to  the  county  Auditor  on  or 
before  the  1st  day  of  October  following  the  school  year; 
while  the  county  Auditor  must  make  his  report  to  the  State 
School  Commissioner,  by  the  5th  of  November  in  each  year. 
Hitherto  the  returns  of  Boards  of  Education  were  required  to 
be  made,  within  twenty  days  after  the  third  Monday  of 
October,  ('4  at  the  same  time  when  the  return  of  the  enumera 
tion  of  youth  is  required  to  be  made,")  and  the  time  limited 
for  the  report  of  the  county  Auditor  was  "  on  or  before  the 
twentieth  day  of  December,  annually."  The  report  of  the 
State  School  Commissioner,  formerly  postponed  to  the  twen 
tieth  day  of  January,  is  now  required  to  be  made  to  the  Gov 
ernor  on  or  before  the  twentieth  of  November  previously. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  1856,  an  act  was  passed,  legalizing 
all  annexations  or  transfers  of  territory  to  or  from  the  districts 
provided  for  in  the  act  for  the  better  regulation  of  public 
schools  in  cities,  towns,  etc.,  passed  February  21,  1849,  and 
the  General  School  Act  of  March  14, 1853 ;  and  from  abund 
ant  caution,  authorizing  the  Boards  of  Education  of  any  city 
or  incorporated  village,  or  union  school  district  created  by 
any  law  of  this  State,  to  transfer,  by  mutual  agreement,  terri 
tory  to  and  from  their  respective  districts,  according  to  the 
general  provisions  of  the  act  of  March  14,  1853. 

By  another  curative  act,  passed  April  5,  1856,  all  sales  of 
section  sixteen,  by  the  Trustees  of  civil  townships,  instead  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  original  surveyed  or  fractional  townships, 
provided  that  the  proceedings  were  otherwise  in  conformity 
with  the  provisions  of  the  acts  in  force  on  that  subject,  when 
the  sales  occurred,  were  legalized  in  the  possession  of  the 
purchasers,  and  their  assignees,  and  heirs  at  law.* 

Having  thus  closed  a  review  of  the  general  school  legisla 
tion  of  the  State,  which,  prior  to  1851,  has  already  been 
accompanied  by  full  citations  from  Executive  communications, 

*  The  enactments  above  referred  to  are  reprinted  in  Appendix,  "School 
Laws  in  Force." 


RECENT   EVENTS    OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST.  237 

it  is  proposed  to  continue  that  transcript  from  the  messages 
of  those  gentlemen  who  have  held  the  gubernatorial  chair 
under  the  present  Constitution.  These  paragraphs  afford  an 
instructive  commentary  upon  the  legislative  action  of  the 
government  which  they  preceded  and  accompanied. 

Governor  Reuben  Wood  thus  addressed  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  1852,  on  the  subject  of  education : 

"  The  sixth  article  of  the  Constitution  is  imperative  on  the 
General  Assembly  to  provide  for  an  efficient  system  of  com 
mon  schools  throughout  the  State.  This  is  certainly  one  of 
the  most  interesting  subjects  which  can  occupy  your  considera 
tion,  or  that  of  the  American  people.  Under  systems  like 
ours,  where  the  real  sovereignty  is  with  the  citizen,  and  he 
rules  himself:  where  government  is  upheld  or  put  down  by 
the  opinions  of  the  people,  expressed  through  the  '  self-reno 
vating  power  of  the  ballot-box,'  and  not  by  violence,  light, 
knowledge,  intelligence,  science,  are  essentially  necessary  to 
be  widely  spread  among  the  masses  of  the  community.  A 
common  English  education  is  within  the  reach  of  all,  and  is, 
at  least,  indispensable  to  the  happiness,  safety,  and  prosperity 
of  the  State.  Experience  has  shown  that  education,  with  the 
masses  of  the  people,  affords  infinitely  more  protection  to  lib 
erty,  good  morals,  and  more  security  to  the  rights  of  others, 
than  all  the  criminal  enactments  that  have  ever  been  made,  or 
prisons  that  have  been  built. 

"If  we  desire  the  rising  generation  to  be  virtuous,  lovers 
of  freedom,  and  to  cherish  our  institutions  which  we  must 
soon  leave  behind ;  if  civilization,  intellectual  enjoyment, 
substantial  refinement,  love  of  order,  and  prosperity,  are  to 
be  leading  characteristics  with  those  who  are  to  succeed  us, 
the  means  must  be  provided,  and  an  efficient  common  school 
system  devised. 

"  The  youth  of  the  State  must  be  educated  and  instructed 
in  habits  of  useful  and  industrial  pursuits  ;  for  habits  formed 
in  early  life  are  likely  to  follow  to  its  close. 

"  The  Constitution  has  very  wisely  provided  for  the  invio 
lability  of  the  principal  of  the  school  funds,  which  now  are, 
or  hereafter  shall  be,  under  control  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  for  the  faithful  application  of  the  income  to  the  pur 
poses  designed.  It  has  also  declared,  that  such  sums 
shall  be  raised  by  taxation  or  otherwise,  as,  with  the  in 
come  of  the  school  trust  fund,  will  secure  an  efficient  system 
of  common  schools  throughout  the  State ;  and  this  Consti- 


238  RECENT    EVENTS    OF    EDUCATIONAL    INTEREST. 

tutiun  the  Representatives  of  the  people  have  solemnly  sworn 
to  support. 

"  For  the  amount  and  condition  of  all  moneys  and  grants 
for  school  purposes,  the  General  Assembly  is  referred  to  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

"  It  is  respectfully  recommended  that  every  school  district 
should  be  required  to  have  a  school  kept  in  it,  from  the  first 
of  December  until  the  first  of  April  in  each  and  every  year, 
and  that  parents  or  guardians,  and  all  others  intrusted  with 
the  custody  of  children,  should  be  required  to  send  them  to 
some  school,  for  at  least  three  months  of  that  time,  unless  for 
good  cause  excused  by  the  Directors.  It  is  likewise  sug- 
gested,  that  some  method  should  be  provided,  better  suited 
than  the  one  now  in  force,  to  prevent  the  employment  of  all 
but  competent  teachers,  and  those  of  unexceptionable  moral 
character. 

"  I  believe  it  to  be  true,  that  children  in  the  habit  of  at 
tending  school  become  fond  of  it.  The  desire  to  learn  in 
creases.  If  the  foundation  be  laid  in  youth,  every  one  of 
either  sex,  as  a  general  rule,  and  in  any  ordinary  condition, 
may  become  possessed  of  a  common  English  education,  may 
be  intelligent  and  intellectual.  There  is  leisure  sufficient 
from  the  employment  of  all,  if  the  disposition  exist. 

"  The  General  Assembly  might  do  much  to  improve  our 
common  schools,  and  to  promote  the  cause  of  education,  by 
providing  for  suitable  libraries  in  every  school  district,  sucn 
as  would  be  adapted  to  the  capacities  and  tastes  of  youth. 

"  In  Massachusetts,  every  school  is  furnished  by  the  State 
with  Webster's  Dictionary,  as  the  standard  work  of  Orthog 
raphy  and  Pronunciation.  The  same  is  recommended  by  a 
Committee  of  the  New  York  Legislature  for  the  Empire  State. 

"  It  is  admitted  to  be  the  most  valuable  work  of  the  kind 
extant,  by  the  learned  men  both  here  and  in  Europe,  and  its 
general  use  in  our  schools  would  break  down  all  provincial 
isms,  so  to  speak,  and  produce  uniformity  and  elegance  in  the 
use  of  our  language.  Words  would  then  be  used  by  every 
one  in  the  same  sense  in  which  they  are  defined  by  that  able 
lexicographer. 

"  Much  might  also  be  done  by  the  General  Assembly  to  en 
courage  literary  taste,  by  small  aid  from  time  to  time,  for  the 
purchase  of  books,  periodicals,  and  newspapers,  for  permanent 
literary  associations,  lyceums,  and  clubs,  in  our  cities  and 
towns. 

"  It  would  certainly  have  a  tendency  to  prevent  dissipation, 
by  the  desertion  of  places  tending  to  immoralitus,  ami  cause 


RECENT   EVENTS    OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST.  239 

young  men  to  store  their  minds  with  useful  knowledge,  and 
elevate  themselves  in  their  own  self-dignity  and  self-respect. 

"  Again,  I  would  say,  let  the  masses  be  educated.  Send 
information  and  the  means  of  instruction  among  all  classes 
of  our  people  unable  to  provide  it,  and  jails  will  become  ten- 
antless,  and  your  penitentiary  greatly  diminish  in  its  occu 
pants.  The  songs  of  riot  and  debauchery  will  be  seldom 
heard  in  your  streets,  and  your  Executive  will  escape  the  con 
stant  annoyance  of  parents,  wives,  and  children,  for  some 
ignorant  and  disgraced,  but  still  cherished  object,  who  has 
forfeited  his  liberty  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  justice. 

"  My  predecessor,  in  his  last  annual  message,  among  other 
things,  recommended  a  thorough  revision  of  the  school  laws. 
He  remarks,  4  The  law  which  now  professes  to  regulate  this 
system  has  been  in  force  for  many  years.  It  has  undergone 
many  alterations,  is  printed  in  many  different  volumes  of  the 
statutes,  and  is  thus  made  difficult  to  be  found  and  still  more 
difficult  to  be  understood,  by  the  great  majority  of  persons 
whose  duty  it  professes  to  point  out.' 

"  I  fully  concur  with  him  in  opinion,  and  the  entire  subject 
is  earnestly  and  respectfully  recommended  to  the  early  and 
deliberate  consideration  of  the  General  Assembly,  with  the 
full  conviction  that  the  people  of  Ohio  will  cheerfully  submit 
to  any  reasonable  burdens  that  may  be  imposed  in  aid  of 
the  school  fund,  and  which  shall  be  faithfully  applied  to  the 
purposes  of  common  schools,  believing,  as  they  justly  do,  that 
it  would  relieve  them  from  other  burdens,  in  a  measure, 
which  are  now  levied  to  secure  the  faithful  and  prompt  ad 
ministration  of  penal  laws." 

Governor  William  Medill,  at  the  second  regular  session  of 
the  General  Assembly  for  1854,  thus  expressed  himself : 

"  Our  common  schools,  from  their  universal  diffusion, 
located  as  they  are  in  every  neighborhood,  and  distributing 
their  healthful  influence  to  every  family,  should  always  be 
regarded  as  among  the  very  first  objects  of  legislative  care. 
They  have  not  inaptly,  at  times,  been  styled  'the  people's 
colleges,'  and  are  certainly  the  palladium  and  most  effectual 
defense  of  our  free  institutions. 

"  The  new  Constitution  makes  it  imperative  on  the  General 
Assembly,  4  to  make  such  provisions  by  taxation,  or  otherwise, 
as  with  the  income  arising  from  the  school  trust  fund,  will 
secure  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  common  schools 
throughout  the  State.' 

"  In  accordance  with  this  requirement  of  the  Constitution, 


24:0  RECENT    EVENTS   OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST. 

the  last  General  Assembly,  with  almost  entire  unanimity, 
passed  a  law  re-constructing  our  educational  system,  ele 
vating  its  standard,  extending  its  usefulness,  and  imparting 
to  it  a  greater  degree  of  efficiency. 

"It  is  claimed  by  the  friends  of  the  system  thus  created,  that 
the  new  features  engrafted  upon  it,  are  decided  improve 
ments —  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  educational  progress 
of  the  age,  and  the  educational  demands  of  our  rapidly 
increasing  population. 

"In  a  Republic  like  ours,  founded  as  it  is  on  the  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  the  people  at  large,  the  thorough  .and  efficient 
education  of  those  who  are  soon  to  assume  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  Government  in  all  its  departments,  is 
essential  to  the  healthful  existence  of  the  Government  itself, 
and  can  not  be  neglected  without  danger  to  the  vital  interests 
of  our  free  institutions. 

"  The  new  provisions  of  the  present  school  law,  involving 
changes  radical  in  their  character,  must  necessarily  produce, 
for  a  time,  much  embarrassment  and  inconvenience,  and  in 
some  instances  it  may  be,  actual  oppression.  But  most  of 
these  being  of  a  temporary  nature,  and  incident  to  almost 
every  innovation  upon  long  established  usage,  they  should 
not  impel  the  General  Assembly  to  hasty  and  inconsiderate 
legislation,  lest  the  present  law  may  be,  in  a  short  time, 
involved  in  the  same  complexity  and  confusion  which,  under 
the  former  laws,  produced  so  much  embarrassment. 

"  The  annual  assessment  and  levy  of  two  mills  upon  the 
grand  duplicate  of  the  State,  for  school  purposes,  is  regarded 
by  many  of  the  tax-payers  as  oppressive  and  unnecessary. 
This  levy,  however,  is  only  half  a  mill  greater  than  that 
authorized  by  the  former  law. 

"  Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  present  law,  the  State  levied 
half  a  mill,  and  county  Commissioners  were  required  to  levy 
a  mill,  for  school  purposes  ;  making  a  total  school  tax  of  one 
mill  and  a  half.  Under  the  new  law,  both  levies  have  been 
united  into  one,  and  styled  a  State  levy. 

"  Another  tax  which  has  borne  very  heavily  upon  the  tax 
payers  the  past  year,  is  the  one  authorized  to  be  assessed  bv 
township  Boards  of  Education  for  the  purchase  of  school- 
house  sites,  and  the  erection  of  school -houses.  The  amount 
that  has  been  raised  for  these  objects  is  very  nearly  as  large 
as  that  levied  by  the  State.  It  is  a  tax  that  will  not  require 
to  be  repeated,  however,  in  the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 

"In  the  establishment  of  all  school  systems,  three  objerN 
should  be  constantly  kept  in  view :  brevity,  simplicity,  and 


KECENT  EVENTS   OF   EDUCATIONAL  INTEREST.  241 

the  utmost  degree  of  economy  that  is  consistent  with  the 
proper  education  of  the  youth  of  the  State.  To  attain  these 
excellencies,  however,  much  time  and  experience,  and  a  care 
ful  observation  of  the  working  of  the  system,  are  necessarily 
required. 

"  The  grand  duplicate  has  been  greatly  increased  by  the 
re-valuation  of  the  real  estate.  A  levy  of  two  mills,  for  the 
ensuing  year,  would  produce  one-fourth  more  revenue  than 
was  raised  during  the  past  year,  under  the  same  levy.  ISTo 
system  can  operate  beneficially  that  bears  too  heavily  on  the 
people.  I  therefore  recommend  that  the  law  be  so  modified 
in  this  particular,  as  not  to  require  any  increase,  at  least,  of 
the  amount  now  assessed  by  the  State." 

Again,  in  his  annual  message  of  January,  1856,  Governor 
Medill  observed : 

"The  State  of  Ohio  is  justly  distinguished  for  a  liberal  and 
enlightened  system  of  public  instruction.  Contemplated  by 
the  territorial  legislation  of  Congress,  it  was  undertaken  by 
the  people  of  the  State,  as  soon  as  the  exigencies  of  a  frontier 
and  the  exposures  of  war  would  allow,  and  has  encountered 
less  obstruction  and  more  encouragement  from  the  public  sen 
timent  than  has  usually  been  observed  in  the  progress  of  sim 
ilar  systems  elsewhere.  General  education  is  recognized  by 
the  Constitution  of  1851  as  a  duty  of  Government,  no  less 
than  a  parental  obligation,  and  the  law  of  March  14,  1853, 
not  only  furnished  ample  provision  for  schools  of  every  grade, 
but  will  be  memorable  in  our  annals  for  establishing  the  prin 
ciple  that  they  are  open  to  all — free  or  common  schools — in 
the  fullest  sense  of  the  term.  Instead  of  a  mixed  State  and 
county  tax  of  a  mill  and  a  half  for  their  support,  the  act  in 
question  directed  a  State  school  tax,  and  that  its  proceeds 
should  be  distributed  from  the  State  treasury  in  proportion  to 
the  enumeration  of  youth  of  school  age  within  the  respective 
counties.  Every  township  was  constituted  a  district,  and 
intrusted  to  a  Board  of  Education,  consisting  of  a  Eepresent- 
ative  from  each  sub-district,  who  are  authorized  to  make  or 
alter  such  sub-districts,  to  assess  taxes  for  the  construction  of 
school-houses,  and  the  extension  of  school  terms;  and  to 
exercise  whatever  general  supervision  of  educational  interests 
may  be  consistent  with  the  duties  enjoined  upon  the  local 
Directors  in  each  sub-district.  A  fund  of  one-tenth  of  a  mill 
yearly  was  appropriated  '  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  school 
libraries  and  apparatus  to  all  the  common  schools  of  the 
State,'  and  the  supervision  of  the  system  was  confided  to  a 

16 


242  EECENT   EVENTS   OF  EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST. 

State  Commissioner,  elected  by  the  people.  In  other  re 
spects  the  present  school  law  is  a  digest  of  previous  legisla 
tion,  and  was  intended  to  relieve  the  public  mind  from  the 
confusion  and  uncertainty  caused  by  frequent  and  inconsider 
ate  amendment. 

"  A  sufficient  period  has  now  elapsed  for  you  to  determine 
whether  the  people  are  generally  satisfied  with  the  present 
law,  or  in  what  respect  it  requires  modification.  There  has 
been  some  complaint  in  the  manner  of  distributing  the  State 
school  fund.  Those  counties  which  include  populous  cities 
are  assessed  with  greater  amounts  than  the  enumeration  of 
youth  entitle  them  to  receive,  and  in  one  instance  the  amount 
received  is  only  about  one-half  the  sum  contributed  to  the 
State  fund.  Still  it  is  easy  to  see  that  if  we  consider  the 
child  as  the  object  of  public  regard — as  a  ward  of  the  State 
for  a  certain  degree  of  instruction — that  the  direct  application 
of  the  public  bounty  to  the  youth  of  the  counties  in  propor 
tion  to  the  annual  enumeration,  is  neither  illogical  nor  incon 
sistent.  It  presents  a  fair  subject,  however,  for  the  consider 
ation  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"The  organization  of  township  Boards  of  Education,  which, 
to  the  extent  of  their  powers  and  duties,  reduce  the  authority 
of  local  Directors,  was  a  centralizing  measure,  and  has 
undoubtedly  produced  a  greater  degree  of  uniformity  and  effi 
ciency  ;  but  it  is  a  grave  question  whether  the  division  of 
jurisdiction  between  those  bodies  has  not  led  to  disagreement 
and  confusion,  and  whether  the  power  of  taxation,  vested  in 
Boards  of  Education,  has  not  been  injudiciously  exercised. 

"I  deem  it  highly  important  that  the  school  act  should 
accurately  define  the  powers  and  duties  of  these  officers 
respectively ;  although  it  is  quite  possible  that  former  uncer 
tainty  in  this,  and  other  respects,  has  been  removed  by  the 
opinions  and  advice  of  the  State  Commissioner.  The  present 
system  owes  much  to  the  habitual  and  judicious  expositions 
of  that  officer. 

"Boards  of  Education  are  required  to  furnish  schools  for 
seven  months  of  the  year,  and  they  are  authorized  to  direct 
assessments  '  for  school  purposes  other  than  for  the  payment 
of  teachers,'  under  which  head  the  item  of  school-house  con 
struction  is  included.  They  may  also  direct  assessments  not 
exceeding  two  mills  on  the  dollar,  for  the  support  of  central 
or  high  schools,  when  legally  established,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  prolonging,  after  the  State  funds  have  been  exhausted,  the 
terms  of  the  several  sub-districts  or  primarv  schools  in  the 
township.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  limitation  of  the 


RECENT   EVENTS    OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST.  243 

power  of  taxation  '  for  school  purposes,  other  than  the  pay 
ment  of  teachers.' 

"The  taxes  assessed   for  local   school   purposes  in  1854 
amounted  to  $1,295,424,  and  in  1855  to  $1,246,346,  amounts 
almost  equal  to  the  State  school  tax  of  a  mill  and  a  half  on  the 
grand  duplicate.     The  largest  portion  of  these  assessments 
were  doubtless  for  school-house  structures,  and  to  prolong  the 
schools  beyond  the  period  of  seven  months,  and  may  be  re 
garded  as  extraordinary  expenditures.     Why  should  not  the 
proposition  to  incur  them  be  submitted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  people  of  the  township  ?     As  the  services  of  members  of 
Boards  of  Education  are  gratuitous,  those  officers  are  usually 
ardent  friends  of  education,  and  there  is  danger  that  their  zeal 
in  its  behalf,  however  honorable  to  them,  individually,  may 
sometimes  fail  to  be  sustained  by  public  opinion ;  a  state  of 
things  certain  to  produce  an  injurious  reaction,  and  to  impair 
the  usefulness  of  our  school  system.     It  would  be  better  to  dis 
tribute  a  certain  degree  of  educational  progress  over  several 
years,  and  be  sure,  meanwhile,  of  a  cordial  sentiment  of  public 
approval,  than  to  precipitate  the  same  results  within  a  single 
year,  and  thereby  alienate  the  sympathies  of  the  community. 
The  latter  must  accompany  and  sanction  all  our  school  move- 
merits,  and  no  more  serious  error  can  be  committed  than  to 
mistake  the  enthusiasm  of  a  few  for  the  conviction  of  the 
many.     Let  every  step  be  carefully  considered,  and  fully  ma 
tured,  and  if  unusual  in  its  nature,  ratified  by  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  district,  tit  a  meeting  called  for  its  discus 
sion,  and  we  may  confidently  dismiss  our  fears  for  the  future 
prosperity  and  advancement  of  the  cause  of  popular  edu 
cation." 

Governor  S.  P.  Chase,  in  his  Inaugural  Address  of  Janu 
ary,  1856,  briefly  alluded  to  the  subject  as  follows : 

"  I  need  not  commend  to  your  judicious  consideration  the 
educational  and  benevolent  institutions  of  the  State.  Univer 
sal  education  is  our  cheapest  defense,  and  surest  safeguard, 
and  most  enduring  wealth.  Our  common  schools,  which  se 
cure  to  the  people  this  great  benefit,  are  firmly  established  in 
their  affections,  and  will  justly  claim  the  fostering  care  of  their 
Representatives." 

Since  February,  1854,  the  school  department,  re-organized 
so  fully  under  the  act  of  1853.  has  been  under  the  superin 
tendence  of  Hon.  H.  H.  Barney.  Two  reports  have  been 
made  by  him  as  State  School  Commissioner,  from  which 


244  RECENT   EVENTS   Of    EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST. 

very  considerable  compilation  has  been  made  in  the  progress 
of  these  pages.  Much  of  their  space  has  been  occupied  with 
historical  details  ;  but  even  a  larger  proportion  has  been  de 
voted  to  practical  dissertation  upon  the  most  effective  methods 
for  the  external  administration  and  internal  management  of 
schools. 

From  the  last  annual  report  of  the  State  School  Commis 
sioner  are  compiled  the  following  statistics,  which  are  here 
presented  as  the  highest  evidence  that  the  elaborate  system, 
whose  progress  has  been  under  consideration,  is  fruitful  of 
benefit  to  the  community  which  sustains  it  so  munificently. 

A  general  statement  of  the  public  expenditure  for  the  pur 
pose  of  education  in  Ohio,  during  the  past  year,  embraces 
the  following  items : 

Amount  of  State  common  school  fund  appor 
tioned  to  the  counties  according  to  the  enumera 
tion  of  unmarried  youth  between  the  ages  of  five 
and  twenty-one  years,  being  at  the  rate  of  $1.48 
per  capita $1,208,283  84. 

Interest  paid  to  the  counties  on  school  funds  held 

by  the  State  in  trust 125,206  21. 

Rents  of  Virginia  Military  school  lanis 2,903  54. 

Local  assessments  for  school-house "  construction, 
for  teachers'  wages  in  addition  to  State  funds, 
fuel,  and  miscellaneous  expenses 1,295,424  84. 


Total $2,631,818  40. 

The  number  of  school-houses  reported  by  1,198  Boards,  is 
7,830,  valued  at  $2,229,911.  The  number  in  the  whole  State 
is  probably  10,287,  worth  about  $3,090.306.  There  were  740 
school-houses  built  in  1855,  at  an  aggregate  cost  of  $438,602, 
or  an  average  of  $593.  Of  the  school-houses  heretofore 
erected  and  whose  condition  is  stated  in  the  reports,  4,592  are 
represented  as  "good,"  1,515  as  "bad,"  and  1,269  as  "mid 
dling,"  while  464  are  enumerated,  but  their  condition  is  uu- 
reported. 

From  the  mass  of  returns  relating  to  the  numbers  engaged 


RECENT    EVENTS    OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST.  245 

in  different  studies,  the  following  are  selected  as  the   most 
reliable : 

Number  of  pupils  who  can  read 430,432. 

do  do          who  can  write 362  497. 

do  do  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  Alphabet .  116,933. 

do  do                 do              do     Orthography 497,717. 

do  do  do              do     Mental  Arithmetic  233, 756. 

do  do  do              do     Written      do         246,896. 

do  do                 do              do     Geography 115,839. 

do  do  do              do     English  Grammar    84,684. 

do  do                do              do     History 55,948. 

do  do                 do              do     Algebra 16,502. 

do  do                do              do     Geometry 15,328. 

do  do  do              do     Nat.  Philosophy..    15,068 

do  do                 do              do     Chemistry 14551. 

do  do                do              do     Geology 24,721. 

The  special  school  tax  levied  by  townships  and  districts,  in 
1854,  for  the  expenditure  of  1855,  amounted  to  $1,295,424.84. 
The  returns  from  all  the  counties  in  the  State,  except  seven, 
will  exhibit  the  nature  of  these  expenditures,  and  indeed  pre 
sent  intrinsic  evidences  of  being  very  nearly  accurate  : 

Purchasing  school-house  sites $  15,596  88. 

Building  and  furnishing  school-houses 455,027  07. 

Hiring  school-houses 1,726  41. 

Eepairing  school-houses 47.688  31. 

Fuel 34,418  61. 

Cases  for  books  and  apparatus 775  06. 

Other  contingent  school  expenses 88,265  70, 

Prolonging  schools  seven  months 409,022  57. 

Sustaining  high  schools 13,369  28. 

Total $1,065,759  89. 

The  reports  of  the  county  Auditors  warrant  the  following 
statement  of  the  amount  paid  for  teachers'  wages  in  1855  : 

MALES.        FEMALES.         TOTAL. 

Common $1,086,302  62  $600,116  04  $1,686,418  66. 

High 50,904  18  20,848  01  71J52   19. 

German  and  Eng..          7,965  68  1,072  15  9,037  83. 

Colored 5,859  17  2,700  27  8,559  44. 


Total $1,151,031  63     $624,736  47     $1,775,768  12. 


246 


RECENT    EVENTS   OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST. 


A  satisfactory  view  is  afforded  by  comparing  the  items  as 
returned  in  1854:  and  1855  respectively: 

1854.  1855. 

Total  enumeration  of  youth  of  school  age.  .816,408  820,624. 

Number  enrolled  in  the  schools 612,185  669,024. 

Average  daily  attendance 362,514  388,373. 

Number  of  pupils  in  Orthography 385,912  497,717. 

do  do         Arithmetic 226,289  246,898. 

do  do         Grammar 61,027  84,684. 

do  do         Geography 93,384  115,839. 

do  do        Algebra 5,776  16,502. 

do  do         Geometry 1,037  15,328. 

do  do         Chemistry 1,033  14,551. 

Male  teachers  in  common  schools 9,902  10,998. 

Female       do                    do           8,502  9,854. 

Male           do       high      do           71  115. 

Female      do                    do          63  81. 

Wages  per  month  of  male  teachers  in  com 
mon  schools $23  00  $25  02. 

do            do              female             do            13  00  14  20. 

do            do              male                do  high  58  00  61  35. 

do            do              female             do    do    28  50  30  60. 

Total  amount  of  teachers'  wages $1,684,694  $1,775,768. 

Special  school  tax  levied 987,696  1,295,424. 

Of  this  last  item,  amount  levied  for  pro 
longing  schools  seven  months 404,378  409,022. 

Number  of  Boards  of  Education 1,514  1,574. 

Number  of  sub-districts 11,365          10,000. 

New  school-houses  erected 770  740. 

Cost  of  new  school-houses $346,944     $438,602. 

Average  cost  of  new  school-houses 451  593. 

This  comparative  statement,  when  it  is  considered  that  tlu> 
interval  covers  a  period  in  which  the  community  sustained 
great  depression  by  the  unprecedented  drouth  of  one  year, 
and  the  extraordinary  prevalence  of  sickness  during  its  suc 
cessor,  justifies  the  belief  that  no  step  backward  can  be  rea 
sonably  anticipated  in  the  future  career  of  the  Ohio  School 
System.  Already  has  an  opportunity  been  afforded  to  test 


KECENT   EVENTS    OF   EDUCATIONAL   INTEREST.  247 

the  disposition  of  both  the  political  parties  of  the  State,  under 
the  responsibility  of  a  legislative  majority,  and  the  fact  that 
no  mutation  of  State  administration  is  likely  to  change  the 
essential  features  of  the  existing  provision  for  public  instruc 
tion,  in  any  essential  feature,  should  be  a  subject  of  pride  and 
congratulation  to  every  citizen.  These  pages  have  indicated 
the  gradual  but  sure  development  of  that  provision ;  and  as 
the  conclusion  of  the  preceding  review — contemplating  the 
broad  foundation  and  lofty  proportions  of  the  "  thorough  and 
efficient  system  of  common  schools  "  now  firmly  secured  to 
the  people  of  Ohio  —  no  aspiration  can  be  more  appro 
priate  than  an  enthusiastic  ESTO  PERPETUA — "  MAY  IT  LIVE 
FOREVER !  " 


SCHOOL  LAWS  IN  EOECE. 


SCHOOL  LAWS  IN  FORCE,* 


CHAPTER    I. 


GENERAL  SCHOOL  ACT. 


An  Act  to  provide  for  the  reorganization  and  maintenance 
of  Common  Schools. 


Board  of  Educa 
tion. 


[Passed  March  1,  1853,  LI  wl.  Stat.  429.] 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Townships  com. 
State  of  Ohio,  That  hereafter  each  and  every  organ-   pose    districts: 
ized  township  in  the  State  shall  compose  but  one  school  J^00 
district  for  all  purposes  connected  with  the  general  in-  tricts. 
terests  of  education  in  the  township,  and  shall  be  con 
fined  to  the  management  and  control  of  a  Board  of 
Education,  and  the  several  school  districts  and  frac 
tional  parts  thereof,  which  now  are,  or  may  hereafter 
be  established  in  the  several  organized  townships  of  the 
State,  shall  be  regarded  as  sub-districts,  and  be  con 
fided  to  the  management  and  control  of  local  Directors,   Local  Directors. 
as   hereinafter   provided;    but  nothing    contained    in 
this  act  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  give  to  the  town 
ship  Board  of  Education,  or  to  local  Directors  in  sub- 
districts,  jurisdiction  over  any  territory  in  the  town 
ship    included   within  the  limits   of  any  city   or   in 
corporated  village,  with  the  territory  annexed  thereto 
for  school    purposes,  which    shall  elect  or  appoint  a 
Board  of  Education  as  hereinafter  provided,  or,  which 
now  is  or  may  hereafter  be  governed,  as  to  schools,  by 
any  special  or  other  act,  specified  in  the  sixty-seventh 
section  of  this  act. 

*  For  the  convenience  of  reference,  the  following  acts  are  numbered 
as  chapters. 

(251) 


Cities,  etc. 


252 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


When,  where, 
an<>  how  direct 
ors  elected. 


Term  of  office. 


Minutes   of   the 
meeting. 


Clerk  to  record. 
Clerk  to  certify. 


Hour  of  holding 
election. 
Who  may  desig 
nate.  Five  days' 
notice  to  be 
given. 


Official  oath. 


Vacancy,     how 
filled. 


ELECTION    OF   LOCAL    DIRECTORS. 

SEC.  2.  On  the  second  Monday  of  April,  in  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-three,  there  shall  be  held  at 
the  usual  hour  and  place  of  holding  district  meetings 
in  each  of  the  sub-districts  of  the  several  townships  of 
the  State,  a  school  meeting  of  the  qualified  voters  resi 
dent  within  the  sub-district,  and  having  the  qualifica 
tions  of  voters  at  the  State  and  county  elections,  who, 
when  assembled,  shall  organize  by  the  appointment  of 
a  Chairman  and  Secretary,  and  proceed  to  elect  by 
ballot,  three  School  Directors  for  such  sub-district;  of 
those  so  elected,  the  person  receiving  the  highest  num 
ber  of  votes  shall  hold  his  office  for  three  years;  the 
person  receiving  the  next  highest  number,  shall  hold 
the  office  for  two  years;  and  the  person  receiving  the 
next  highest  number,  shall  hold  the  office  for  one  year; 
and  each  shall  continue  in  office  until  his  successor  is 
elected  and  qualified.  In  case  two  or  more  persons 
so  elected  have  received  an  equal  number  of  votes,  the 
duration  of  their  respective  terms  of  office  shall  be 
determined  by  lot,  in  the  presence  of  the  Chairman 
and  Secretary  of  the  meeting;  and  annually  thereafter, 
in  the  same  manner,  on  the  second  Monday  in  April, 
there  shall  be  elected  in  each  sub-district  of  the  proper 
township,  one  School  Director  for  the  term  of  three 
years;  and  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  any  such 
district  meeting  shall  be  signed  by  the  Chairman  and 
Secretary,  and  delivered  to  the  Directors,  who  shall  have 
been  elected  as  aforesaid,  to  be  recorded  by  the  Clerk 
in  the  records  of  the  sub-district,  and  the  said  Clerk  of 
the  sub-district  shall  forthwith  certify  to  the  township 
Clerk,  the  names  of  the  local  Directors  so  elected,  speci 
fying  the  term  for  which  each  was  elected;  if  the 
Directors  of  any  sub-district  so  elected  shall  deem  it 
expedient,  they  may  designate  the  specific  hour  of  the 
day  on  which  the  annual  election  for  such  sub-district 
shall  be  held,  and  in  such  case,  shall  cause  five  days 
notice  thereof,  in  writing,  to  be  posted  up  in  three  of 
the  most  public  places  in  such  sub-district. 

SEC.  3.  The  said  Directors,  within  five  days  after 
their  election,  shall  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  to  sup 
port  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  and  faithfully  and  impartially  to  dis 
charge  the  duties  of  their  office;  which  said  oath  the 
Directors  are  authorized  to  administer  to  each  other. 
And  in  case  a  vacancv  shall  occur  in  the  office  of 
Director,  by  death,  resignation,  refusal  to  serve,  or 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT.  253 

otherwise,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  township  Clerk  to 
fill  such  vacancy  within  ten  days  after  being  informed 
thereof,  by  appointment  for  the  unexpired  term. 

SEC.  4.  If  the  qualified  voters  of  any  sub-district  shall  Special  meeting 
fail  to  meet  and  elect  School  Directors,  as  prescribed  in  [°rs?lect  direc" 
the  second  section  of  this  act,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any 
three  qualified  voters  of  such  sub-district,  to  call  a 
special  meeting  of  the  voters  of  such  sub-district,  for  the 
purpose  of  electing  directors,  on  first  giving  five  days' 
notice,  in  writing,  of  the  time  and  place  of  holding 
such  meeting,  by  posting  the  same  in  three  of  the  most 
public  places  in  such  sub-district;  and  the  Directors,  Terms  of  office> 
so  elected  at  such  special  meeting,  shall  hold  their 
offices  for  the  same  terms  of  time  as  if  elected  on  the 
second  Monday  of  April,  as  prescribed  in  said  second 
section,  except  that  their  said  terms  of  office  shall  be 
considered  as  having  commenced  on  the  second  Mon 
day  of  April  next  preceding  the  time  of  holding  such 
special  meeting. 

SEC.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Directors,  any  two  How    Directors 
of  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  to  meet  as  soon  as   to  organize,  and 
practicable  after  having  been  elected  and  qualified,  at  t] 
such  place  as  may  be  most  convenient   in  the  sub- 
district,  and  organize  by  appointing  one  of  their  num 
ber  Clerk  of  the  sub-district,  who  shall  preside  at  the  cierkofsub-dis- 
official  meetings  of  the  Directors,  and  record  their  pro-  tricts;  duties  of. 
ceedings  in  a  book  provided  for  the  purpose,  together 
with  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  annual 
school  meetings  held  in  the  sub-district,  by  the  quali 
fied  voters  thereof,  which  shall  be  a  public  record;  and 
all  such  proceedings,  when  so  recorded,  shall  be  signed 
by  the  Clerk  of  the  proper  sub-district.     The  Directors 
may  meet  as  frequently  as  they  may  think  necessary 
for  the  transaction  of  business,  and  fill  any  vacancies 
in  the  office  of  Clerk  which  may  occur  in  the  sub-dis 
trict:   or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  either  of  the  other 
Directors  may  officiate  temporarily  in  his  place. 

DUTIES   OF   LOCAL    DIRECTORS. 

SEC.  6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  School  Directors,   Their  duties. 
in  each  sub-district,  to  take  the  management  and  con 
trol  of  its  local  interests  and  affairs,  to  employ  teachers, 
to  certify  the  amount  due   them   for  services  to  the 
township  Clerk,  who  shall  draw  an  order  on  the  town 
ship   Treasurer  for  the  amount;    and   to  dismiss  any  Township  Clerk 
teacher,  at  any  time,   for  such   reasons  as  they  may  to  draw  orders 
deem  sufficient;  and  to  visit  the  school  or  schools  of 
the  sub-district  at  least  twice  during  each  term,  by  one 


254 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


Ihities  of 
Directors 
tinued. 


local 
con 


When  consent 
of  Board  to  be 
obtained. 


Contracts  to  be 
reported  to 
Board.  Board 
responsible  for 
performance  of 
contracts. 


Enumeration  of 
youth. 


or  more  of  their  number,  with  such  other  person  or 
persons  competent  to  examine  pupils  in  their  studies, 
as  they  may  choose  to  invite. 

SEC.  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Directors,  in 
their  respective  sub-districts,  to  negotiate  and  make, 
under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  the  township 
Board  of  Education  may  prescribe,  all  necessary  con 
tracts  in  relation  to  providing  fuel  for  schools,  repair 
ing,  building,  or  furnishing  school-houses,  purchasing 
or  leasing  school-house  sites,  renting  school- rooms,  and 
making  all  other  provisions  necessary  for  the  con 
venience  and  prosperity  of  schools  within  their  sub- 
district;  but  no  contracts  shall  be  made  by  the 
Directors,  under  the  provisions  of  this  section,  for  the 
payment  of  money  from  the  township  school  fund  ap 
plicable  to  such  purposes,  which  in  any  one  year  shall 
exceed  the  amount  distributable  to  the  sub-districts, 
in  proportion  to  the  enumeration  of  scholars  resident 
therein,  without  first  obtaining  the  consent  or  order  of 
a  majority  of  the  township  Board  of  Education;  and  all 
contracts  made  by  the  local  Directors,  under  the  pro 
visions  of  this  section,  shall  be  reported  to  the  said 
Board,  at  their  next  meeting  after  the  making  of  such 
contracts;  and  said  township  Board  of  Education,  in 
their  corporate  capacity,  on  the  part  of  the  sub-dis 
trict,  shall  be  held  responsible  for  the  performance 
thereof. 

SEC.  8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Directors  in  each 
sub-district,  to  take,  or  cause  to  be   taken,  annually, 
between  the  first  and  third    Monday  of  October,  an 
enumeration  of  all   the  unmarried  white  and  colored 
youth,  noting  them  separately,  between   the   ages  of 
five  and  twenty-one  years,  resident  within  such  sub- 
district,  and  not  temporarily  there,  designating  between 
male  and  female,  and  return  a  certified  copy  thereof  to 
the  township  Clerk.     And  in  case  the  Directors  in  any 
sub-districts  shall  fail  to  take  and  return  the  enumera 
tion  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  township 
Clerk  to  employ  a  competent  person  to  take  the  same, 
and  allow  him  a  reasonable  compensation  for  his  ser 
vices,  and  shall  proceed  to  recover  the  amount  so  paid, 
for  such  services,  in  a  civil  action,  before  any  court 
having  jurisdiction,  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
against  said  Directors,  in  their  individual  capacity;  and 
in  such  suits,  said  Clerk  shall  be  a  competent  wii 
and  the  money  so  collected  shall  be  applied  to  the  use 
of    common    schools    in    the   proper   township.     The 
township  Clerk  shall  make  an  abstract  of  the  enumer 
ation  so  returned  to  him,  designating  the  number  of 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


255 


youth  in  each  sub-district,  and  transmit  such  abstract,    Abstract  to  be 
duly  certified,  to  the  county  Auditor,  within  twenty   Auditor, 
days  after  the  return  made  to  him  by  the  Directors,  or 
the  person  appointed  to  take  such  enumeration. 

SEC.  9.  If  any  civil  township,  or  part  of  a  township,  Different  sur- 
composing  a  sub-district,  shall  be  partly  situated  in 
the  Virginia  Military  District,  the  United  States  Mil 
itary  District,  the  Western  Reserve,  or  in  an  original 
surveyed  township,  or  fractional  township,  to  which 
belongs  any  of  section  sixteen,  or  other  lands  in  lieu 
thereof,  or  any  other  lands  for  the  use  of  schools,  or 
any  interest  in  the  proceeds  of  such  school  lands,  the 
local  Directors  shall,  in  taking  the  enumeration  of  youth 
resident  within  their  jurisdiction,  return  separately 
those  residing  in  the  Virginia  Military  District,  or  United 
States  Military  District,  or  Western  Reserve,  or  original 
surveyed  or  fractional  township,  to  which  belong  any 
school  lands,  or  interest  in  the  proceeds  of  school  lands. 


to   be   Clerk   of 
Board. 


TOWNSHIP   BOARDS   OF  EDUCATION. 

SEC.  10.  That  the  township  Board  of  Education  shall  or  whom  corn- 
consist  of  the  township  Clerk,  and  of  the  local  Director  posed- 
from  each  sub -district  of  the  township,  who  has  been 
appointed  Clerk  in  his  sub-district,  a  majority  of  whom 
shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  busi 
ness;  and  the  Clerk  of  the  township  shall  be  Clerk  of  Township 
the  Board,  but  shall  not  be  entitled  to  a  vote.     It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  said  Clerk  to  be  present  at  the  meetings 
of  the  Board,  and  to  record  in  a  book,  to  be  provided 
for  the  purpose,  all  their  official  proceedings,  which 
shall  be  a  public  record,  open  to  the  inspection  of  any 
person  interested  therein;    and  all  such  proceedings, 
when  so  recorded,  shall  be  signed  by  the  Chairman  and 
Clerk. 

SEC.  11.  The  said  township  Board  of  Education,  in  powers  and  du- 
each  township  of  the  State,  and  their  successors  in  ties- 
office,  shall  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate  in  law, 
and,  as  such,  may  contract  and  be  contracted  with, 
sue  and  be  sued,  plead  and  be  impleaded,  in  anjr  court 
of  law  or  equity  in  this  State,  and  may  receive  any 
gift,  grant,  donation,  or  devise,  made  for  the  use  of 
any  school  or  schools,  within  their  jurisdiction;  and, 
moreover,  they  shall  be,  and  are  hereby  invested,  in 
their  corporate  capacity,  with  the  title,  care,  and  cus 
tody  of  all  school-houses,  school-house  sites,  school 
libraries,  apparatus,  or  other  property  belonging  to  the 
school  district  as  now  organized,  or  which  may  here 
after  be  organized,  within  the  limits  of  their  jurisdiction, 


256 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


Sessions  of  the 
Board,  regular 
and  adjourned. 


Management  of 
central  and  high 

schools. 


When  to  act  aa 
local   Directors. 


To        prescribe 
rules,  ete. 

May  provide  for 
German  schools. 


with  full  power  to  control  the  same  in  such  man 
ner  as  they  may  think  will  best  subserve  the  interests 
of  common  schools,  and  the  cause  of  education;  and 
when,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board,  any  school-house, 
or  school-house  site,  has  become  unnecessary,  they 
may  sell  and  convey  the  same  in  the  name  of  the 
township  Board  of  Education  of  the  proper  township; 
such  conveyance  to  be  executed  by  the  Chairman  and 
Clerk  of  said  Board,  and  shall  pay  the  avails  over  to  the 
township  Treasurer  of  the  proper  township,  for  the  ben 
efit  of  schools;  and  all  conveyances  of  real  estate 
which  may  be  made  to  said  Board,  shall  be  to  said 
board  in  their  corporate  name,  and  to  their  successors 
in  office. 

SEC.  12.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  township  Board 
of  Education  to  hold  regular  sessions  on  the  third  Mon 
day  of  April,  and  on  the  third  Monday  of  October  in 
each  year,  in  the  usual  place  of  holding  township  elec 
tions,  or  at  any  such  place  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
as  may  be  convenient  for  the  transaction  of  any  busi 
ness  which  may  be  necessary  in  relation  to  the  subject 
of  either  the  primary  or  graded  schools  of  the  town 
ship,  with  power  to  adjourn  from  time  to  time,  or  to 
hold  special  meetings  at  any  other  time  or  place  within 
the  proper  township,  as  they  may  think  desirable  for 
the  transaction  of  business  as  aforesaid,  and  at  all  such 
meetings  shall  appoint  one  of  their  number  to  the 
Chair,  and  in  case  of  the  absence  of  the  township  Clerk, 
may  appoint  one  of  their  own  number  to  serve  tempo 
rarily  as  Clerk. 

SEC.  13.  The  township  Board  of  Education  shall 
have  the  management  and  control  of  all  the  central  and 
high  schools  of  their  proper  township,  which  may  bo 
established  therein  under  the  authority  of  this  act,  with 
full  power,  in  respect  to  such  schools,  to  employ,  pay, 
and  dismiss  teachers,  to  build,  repair  and  furnish  the 
necessary  school-houses,  purchase  or  lease  sites  there 
for,  or  rent  suitable  school-rooms,  and  make  all  other 
necessary  provisions  relative  to  such  schools  as  they 
may  deem  proper;  and  it  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  said 
Board  of  Education,  to  exercise  all  the  powers  conferred 
on  local  Directors  in  respect  to  sub-district  schools, 
whenever  such  local  Directors  shall  neglect  to  discharge 
their  duties  in  any  sub-district,  as  required  by  this  act; 
and  it  shall  also  be  the  further  duty  of  said  Board  to 
prescribe  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of 
all  the  common  schools  within  their  jurisdiction;  said 
Board  of  Education  may  provide  for  German  schools 
for  the  instruction  of  such  youth  as  may  desire  to  study 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT.  257 

the    German    language,  or  the    German   and  English 
languages  together,  and  if  the  Board  shall  deem   it 
necessary,  they  may  appoint  one  of  their  number  the   May      appoint 
Acting  Manager  of  Schools  for  the  township,  who  shall   £cUng     MaDa' 
do  and  perform  all  such  duties  as  the  Board  may  pre 
scribe  in  relation  to  the  management  and  supervision  of 
the  different  schools,  and  the  educational  interests  of 
the  township,  and  may  allow  him  a  reasonable  compen 
sation  for  his  services. 

SEC.  14.  The  said  Board  shall  prepare,  or  cause  to  be   Map   of  town. 
prepared,  a  map  of  their  township,  as  often  as  they   ship. 
deem  necessary,  on  which  shall  be  designated  the  sub-   Board  may  alter 
districts  of  the  township,  which  they  may  change  or  sub-districts, 
alter  at  any  regular  session,  and  the  number  of  scholars 
assigned  to  each;   but   no  sub-district   shall   contain 
within  its  limits,  less  than  sixty  resident  scholars  by  sub-districts  not 
enumeration,  except  in  cases  where,  in  the  opinion  of   u!an0B"£jynscSf0" 
the  Board,  it  is  necessary  to  reduce  the  number;  and  it  ars,  except, 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  to  establish  a  school  in  gchool  in  eacb 
each  sub-district  of  the  township,  of  such  grade  as  the   sub-district. 
public  good,  in  their  opinion,  may  require;  and  in  the 
location  of  primary  schools,  or  schools  of  higher  grade, 
the  Board  shall  have  reference  to  population  and  neigh 
borhood,  paying  due  regard  to  any  school-house  already 
built,  or  site  procured,  as  well  as  to  all  other  circum 
stances  proper  to  be  considered,  so  as  to  promote  the 
best  interests  of  the  schools, 

SEC.  15.  The  Board  shall  have  power  to  assign  such  Assignment   of 
number  of  scholars  to  the  several  primary  schools  as  scholars  to  high- 
they  may  think  best;  and  when  such  assignment  has 
been  made,   shall   furnish   the  teacher  a   list  of  the 
scholars  to  be  assigned;  and  the  Board  shall  also  have 
full  power  to  regulate  and  control  the  admission  of 
scholars  to  schools  of  a  higher  grade,  according  to  age 
arid  attainments,  and  may  admit  scholars  over  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  may  suspend,  or  authorize  the  Disorderly 
local  Directors  to  suspend,  from  the  privileges  of  either 
of   the  schools,  any  pupil  found  guilty  of  disorderly 
conduct,  which  suspension  shall  not  extend  beyond  the 
current  session  of  the  school. 

SEC.  16.  Whenever  it  shall  happen  that  persons  are  Division       of 
so  situated  as  to  be  better  accommodated  at  the  school  JJJSJ 
of  an  adjoining  township,  or  whenever  it  may  be  desira-  poses. 
ble  to  establish  a  school  composed  of  parts  of  two  or 
more  townships,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  respective 
Boards  of  the  townships  in  which  such  persons  reside, 
or  in  which  such  schools  may  be  situated,  or  of  the 
townships  or  parts  of  which  the  school  is  to  be  com 
posed,  to  transfer  such  persons  for  educational  purposes 

17 


258 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


•hip. 


Scholars  may  be  to  the  township  in  which  such  school  house  i\  or 
mav  ke  J°eated;  but  the  enumeration  of  scholars 
shall  be  taken  in  each  township,  as  if*  no  such  transfer 
had  been  made,  and  such  school,  when  so  composed, 
shall  be  supported  from  the  school  funds  of  the  respect 
ive  townships  from  which  the  scholars  may  have  been 
transferred;  and  the  Board  of  that  township  in  which 
the  school-house  is  situated,  shall  have  the  con 
trol  and  management  of  such  school,  and  the  Board  of 
the  adjoining  township  or  townships,  so  connected  for 
school  purposes,  shall  each  make  the  proper  estimates 
of  their  share  of  expenses  of  every  kind  necessary  to 
sustain  said  school,  and  certify  the  same  to  the  Auditor 
of  their  proper  county,  as  part  of  their  annual  esti 
mates  for  school  purposes,  and  draw  orders  on  their 
respective  township  Treasurers,  for  such  sum  as  will  be 
in  proportion  to  the  enumeration  of  scholars  so  trans 
ferred,  in  favor  of  the  Board  of  that  township  in  which 
such  school  is  located,  to  be  appropriated  to  the  pay 
ment  of  teachers,  and  for  other  purposes  connected 
with  the  establishment  or  maintenance  of  said  school, 
as  far  as  applicable. 

SEC.  17.  The  said  Board  shall  have  power  to  deter 
mine  the  studies  to  be  pursued,  and  the  school-books  to 
be  used  in  the  several  schools  under  their  control,  and 
shall  make  and  enforce  such  rules  and  regulations  rela 
tive  to  the  use  and  preservation  of  the  school  libraries 
and  apparatus  as  they  may  think  advisable,  and  shall 
appoint,  or  authorize  the  local  Directors  to  appoint  a 
suitable  person  to  act  as  Librarian,  and  to  take  charge 
of  the  school  apparatus,  resident  at  some  convenient 
place  in  the  neighborhood  where  the  school  is  kept, 
and  may  require  such  Librarian  to  give  bond  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  allow  him  such 
compensation  as  they  may  think  reasonable. 


Board  to  deter 
mine  studies, 
books. 


Librarian. 


TO  give  bond, 


What  report 
must  show. 


REPORT  REQUIRED  OF  TEACHERS. 

SEC.  18.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  school-teacher 
t^  mak0  out  an{j  fi]e  wjth  t|ie  township  Clerk,  at  the  ex 
piration  of  each  term  of  the  school,  a  full  and  complete 
report  of  the  whole  number  of  scholars  admitted  to  the 
school  during  such  term,  distinguishing  between  male 
and  female,  the  average  attendance,  the  books  used,  the 
branches  taught,  the  number  of  pupils  engaged  in  the 
study  of  each  of  said  branches,  and  such  other  statis 
tics  as  he  may  be  required  to  make  by  the  township 
Board  or  local  Directors,  and  until  such  report  shall 
have  been  certified  and  filed  by  the  said  teacher  as 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


259 


aforesaid,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  said  Board  or  local 
Directors  to  pay  said  teacher  for  his  or  her  services. 

STATEMENT   REQUIRED   OF    DIRECTORS. 

SEC.  19.  The  Board  of  Education  in  each  township  Board  of  Educa- 
shall  prepare,  or  cause  to  be  prepared,  and  forwarded  $[uditorrep°rt  t0 
to  the  county  Auditor,  at  the  same  time  when  the  return 
of  the  enumeration  of  scholars  is  required  to  be  made,* 
a  statement  exhibiting  the  number  of  children  in  the 
township  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  years, 
distinguishing  between  male  and  female;  the  number  of 
schools,  specifying  the  different  grades;  the  number  of 
teachers,  male  and  female;  the  number  of  children,  male 
and  female,  who  have  attended  school  during  the  past 
year;  the  average  attendance;  the  length  of  the  terms 
of  schools,  compensation  of  teachers,  male  and  female; 
the  number  and  condition  of  the  school-houses  and 
furniture,  and  the  estimated  value  thereof;  the  number 
and  condition  of  the  books  in  the  school  libraries;  the 
number  of  libraries;  the  kind  of  school  books  used  in 
the  schools;  the  number  and  value  of  school  apparatus, 
and  a  full  account  of  the  expenditures  for  school  pur 
poses,  together  with  such  other  statistics  and  informa 
tion  in  relation  to  schools,  as  the  State  Commissioner  of 
Schools  may  require. 


classifl- 
of    chil- 


CENTRAL  OR  HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

SEC.  20.  Each  township  Board  of  Education  shall  Establishment 
have  power,  as  hereinafter  provided,  to  establish  in  °['ti*nd 
their  respective  townships  such  number  of  graded  drenin 
schools,  or  such  modifications  of  them,  as  the  public 
may  require;  and,  in  case  of  the  establishment  of  such 
graded  schools,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  so  to 
classify  the  children  of  the  township  as  to  secure  to  all, 
as  far  as  practicable,  an  equitable  participation  in  the 
advantages  thereof;  and  the  Board  shall  designate  the 
sub-districts  by  numbering  them,  and  schools  of  a 
higher  grade  than  primary,  shall  be  known  by  the  ap 
pellation  of  central  or  high  schools. 

SEC.  21.  Whenever,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board  of   vote  to  be  taken 
Education,  it  shall  become  necessary  or  desirable   to   in  establishing 
provide  one  or  more  such  central  or  high  schools  in  S1 
their  respective  townships,  the  said  Board  shall  estimate 
the  probable  cost  thereof,  and  call  a  special  meeting  of 


*  Modified:  see  post  chapter  XIII.    This  report  must  be  trans 
mitted  "  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  October." 


260 


GENERAL  SCHOOL   ACT. 


Twenty  days  no 
tice  to  be  given. 


Officers  of  meet 
ing. 


the  qualified  voters  of  the  township,  and  who  are  not 
residents  of  any  of  the  territory  or  districts  named  in 
the  first  section  of  this  act,  over  which  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  township  and  local  Directors  is  excluded,  at  the 
usual  place  of  holding  elections,  first  giving  twenty 
days'  notice  of  the  time  and  object  of  holding  such 
meeting,  by  posting  the  same  in  some  public  place  in 
each  of  the  several  sub-districts  of  the  township,  in 
which  notice  the  amount  or  rate  of  tax  as  estimated  by 
the  Board  shall  be  stated,  and  the  electors,  when  con 
vened  in  pursuance  of  such  notice,  shall  decide,  by 
vote,  any  questions  which  may  be  deemed  important 
in  relation  to  the  cost  or  location  of  the  building  or 
buildings,  or  other  provisions  necessary  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  any  such  school,  and  also  the  amount  of 
township  tax  which  may  be  levied  for  the  purpose;  and 
the  Chairman  and  Clerk  of  the  Board  shall  be  the  Chair 
man  and  Clerk  of  the  meeting;  and  the  Clerk  shall  re 
cord,  in  the  records  of  the  Board,  the  action  of  the 
meeting,  and  the  Board  shall  be  governed  by  the  direc 
tion  and  vote  of  said  meeting  in  relation  to  the  subjects 
or  matters  so  submitted. 


mates 

taxable 

ty  uf  to 


ANNUAL   ESTIMATES   TO  BE  CERTIFIED  BY  THE  BOABD. 

SEC.  22.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Educa 
tion,  in  any  organized  township  of  the  State,  annually 
to  detefmine  by  estimate,  as  nearly  as  practicable,  the 
entire  amount  of  money  necessary  to  be  expended  in 
the  township  for  school  purposes  other  than  for  the 
payment  of  teachers,  and  also  such  additional  amount 
as  the  Board  may  think  necessary,  not  exceeding  two 
mills  on  the  dollar  valuation  of  the  taxable  property  of 
the  township,  for  the  exclusive  purpose  of  sustaining 
teachers  in  the  central  or  high  schools,  or  for  the  pur 
pose  of  prolonging,  after  the  State  funds  have  been 
exhausted,  the  terms  of  the  several  sub-district  or  pri 
mary  schools  in  the  township,  or  for  both  purposes,  as 
the  Board  may  adjudge  best,  which  several  amounts  of 
money  so  estimated,  the  Board  shall  make  known  by 
certificate  in  writing,  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in 
June  in  each  year,  including  any  tax  which  may  have 
been  voted  by  a  special  meeting  of  electors,  as  provided 
in  the  preceding  section,  to  the  Auditor  of  the  proper 
e'eiti-  county,  who  shall  thereupon  assess  the  entire  amount 
n  the  of  sucn  estimates  on  all  the  taxable  property  of  the 

proper-  .  .  .  .  *  J  ^    ,      •, 

nship,  township  not  included  in  any  city,  or  incorporated  vil 
lage,  or  territory  annexed  thereto,  forming  any  special 
district,  to  be  entered  by  said  Auditor  on  the  tax  dupli- 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


261 


cate  of  the  county,  and  collected  by  the  county  Treasurer 

at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  manner  as  State  and 

county  taxes  are  collected;  and,  when  collected,  shall 

be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  proper  township, 

on  the  order  of  the  county  Auditor;   and  said  county   Funds  to  be  paid 

Treasurer  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  for  collection,  one   jJJiJjy.1  jj£ 

per  cent,  on  all  the  moneys  by  him  collected  for  school   per  centage. 

purposes,  and  no  more. 

SEC.  23.  The  township  Board  of  Education  shall  have   when  tax  to  be 
power,  when  in  their  opinion  justice  and  equity  require   a1f0Se,sts  indsub° 
it,  to  estimate  separately  the  cost  of  purchasing  a  school-   district  to  pur- 
house  site,  and  erecting  or  repairing  a  school-house   School-houses!"1 
thereon,  in  any  particular  sub-district  of  the  township 
wherein  the  inhabitants  have  not  heretofore  borne  a 
reasonable  share  of  the  burden  of   taxation   for  such 
purpose  in  comparison  with  other  sub-districts  in  the 
township,  and  certify  such  portion  as  they  may  deem 
just  and  equitable,  of  the  amount  of  such  estimate,  to 
the  county  Auditor  of  the  proper  county,  together  with 
a  map  of  the  lands  and  names  of  the  tax-payers  in  any 
such  sub-district,  which  amount,  so  certified,  shall  be 
assessed  by  the  Auditor  on  the  property  therein  subject 
to  taxation,  and  placed  on  the  county  duplicate,  specially, 
and  be  collected  and  paid  over  in  the  same  manner  as 
other  school  taxes,  and  be  applied  for  the  specific  pur 
pose  of  providing  a  school-house  in  such  sub-district. 


DISBURSEMENT    OF    SCHOOL    FUNDS. 

SEC.  24.  All  school  funds  which  may  come  into  the 
hands  of  the  township  Treasurer,  from  whatever  source,   Funds  to  be  paid 
shall  be  paid  out  only  on  the  order  of  the  Clerk  of  the   c^erk!"  except 
Board  of  Education,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board;   teachers. 
except  in  paying  teachers  for  their  services,  the  said 
Clerk  may,  on  such  teachers  presenting  their  certifi-   How    teachers 
cates  of  qualification,  and  depositing  with  the   Clerk  Pai(L 
true  copies  thereof,  draw  the  requisite  orders   on   the 
Treasurer  for  such  amount  as  may  have  been  certified 
to  be  due  by  any  two  of   the  local  Directors  of  the 
proper   sub-district,    in   which    the    teacher  was  em 
ployed;   and  so  much  of  the  school  moneys  coming 
into  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  as  may  be  derived  from 
the  State  tax,  or  for  any  township  tax  levied  for  the 
continuation  of  schools  after  the  State  fund  has  been 
exhausted,  shall  be  applicable  only  to  the  payment  of 
teachers  in  the  proper  township,  and  shall  be  drawn 
for  no  other  purpose  whatever;    and  all  school   funds 
made   applicable   to   the   payment   of    teachers   only, 
shall   be  distributed  to  the  several  sub-districts,  and 


"'61 


262 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


fractional  parts  thereof,  in  the  township,  in  proportion  to 
the  enumeration  of  scholars,  with  the  exception  of  so 
much  of  the  township  tax  as  may  have  been  levied  and 
reserved  by  the  Board  for  sustaining  teachers  in  the 
central  or  high  schools;  and  such  school  funds  as  arise 
from  the  sale  or  rents  of  section  sixteen,  or  other  lands 
in  lieu  thereof,  shall  be  distributed  to  the  localities  to 
which  such  funds  belong.  All  other  school  funds  of 
the  township,  not  raised  for  the  central  or  high 
schools,  nor  made  applicable  to  the  payment  of  teach 
ers,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  applied,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Board,  in  repairing,  building,  or  furnishing 
school-houses,  in  procuring  school-house  sites,  and  in 
making  such  other  provisions  for  schools  in  the  sub- 
districts  of  the  proper  township,  as  may,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Board,  be  necessary;  and  each  township  Board 
shall  make  the  necessary  provisions  for  continuing  the 

To  provide  for  schools  in  operation  in  their  respective  townships  for 

BC^IOO" i™° each  a^  ^eas^  sevcn  months  in  each  year. 

sub-district. 

DIVISION    OF    DUTIES,   AND   LIABILITY   OF    CLERK. 

SEC.  25.  The  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education,  or  any 
Duties  of  Clerk,  one  or  more  of  the  Board  designated  for  that  purpose,  or 
Kc-  the  Acting  Manager  of  Schools  of  the  township,  may  do 

and  perform  all  such  duties  and  services  connected 
with  the  interests  of  schools,  as  the  Board  may  direct, 
and  report  the  same  to  the  Board  for  their  action  and 
approval;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Clerk  of  the 
Board  to  keep  a  full  record  thereof,  in  connection  with 
the  records  of  the  other  official  proceedings  of  the  Board; 
and,  in  case  of  failure  to  keep  such  record,  or  other 
records  required  by  this  act,  the  Clerk  of  the  Board 
shall  be  liable  in  a  civil  action  for  all  loss  or  damages 
that  may  ensue  to  any  person  or  persons,  or  to  the 
school  district,  in  the  name  of  such  person  or  persons, 
or  Board  of  School  Directors,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
shall,  moreover,  be  liable,  on  complaint  tiled  in  the 
name  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  before  any  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  or  other  court  having  jurisdiction,  to  a  fine,  not 
exceeding  one  hundred  dollars,  which,  when  collected, 
shall  be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  proper  town 
ship,  for  the  benefit  of  schools. 


SETTLEMENT    WITH    TREASURER. 


SEC.  26.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
to  settle   tion  to  make  settlement  with  the  township  Treasurer  at 
their  regular  session   in  April,  annually;    but  if,  for 


GENERAL   SCHOOL  ACT.  203 

want  of  time,  or  other  reason,  a  settlement  can  not  be 
made  at  said  session,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Board  to  appoint  a  Committee  composed  of  one  or 
more  of  their  own  members,  to  make  such  settlement 
as  soon  as  practicable,  and  report  the  result  to  the 
Clerk  of  the  Board,  who  shall  record  an  abstract  thereof 
in  the  records  of  the  Board. 

TREASURER,    AND    HIS    DUTIES. 

SEC.  27.  The  township  Treasurer,  in  each  township, 
shall  be  the  treasurer  of  all  school  funds   for  school  ,,  ,. 

.  .   .  Duties  of  town- 

purposes,    belonging    to    the    township,    arising    irom    ship  Treasurer; 
whatever  sources;    and   on    his    election,   and    before  18 


entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  he  shall  give 
bond,  with  sufficient  security,  in  double  the  probable 
amount  of  money  that  shall  come  into  his  hands,  pay 
able  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  be  approved  by  the  Trus 
tees  of  the  township,  conditioned  for  the  faithful  dis 
bursement,  according  to  law,  of  all  such  funds  as  shall, 
from  time  to  time,  come  into  his  hands,  and,  on  the 
forfeiture  of  such  bond,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
township  Clerk  to  prosecute  and  collect  the  same  for 
the  use  of  the  schools  in  the  township;  if  such  town 
ship  Clerk  shall  neglect,  or  refuse  to  so  prosecute,  then  T 

r       t     -\  -i  i  •  i         "  'ien  township 

any    freeholder   may   cause    such    prosecution    to    be   cierka  to  pros- 
instituted.  ecute- 

SEC.  28.  Before  the  county  Auditor  shall  issue  to  the 
township  Treasurer  any  order  on  the  county  Treasurer  Certiflcate  to  be 
for  the  payment  of  any  school  funds  belonging  to  the   furnished    AU- 
township,  such    township   Treasurer  shall  furnish  the   dltor< 
Auditor  with  a  certificate  from  the  township  Clerk,  that 
such  Treasurer  has  executed  and  filed  with  him  a  bond, 
as  provided  for  in  the  foregoing  section,  and  also  stat 
ing  the  amount  of  said  bond;  and  the  Auditor  shall  in 
no  case  permit  the  township  Treasurer  to  have  in  his 
hands,  at  any  one  time,  an  amount  of   school  funds 
over  one-half  the  amount  of  the  penalty  in  such  bond; 
and   the  township   Trustees   shall  allow  the  township 
Treasurer  a  compensation  equal  to  one  per  cent,  on 
all  school  funds  disbursed  by  him,  to  be  paid  on  the 
order  of  the  Trustees,  out  of  the  township  treasury. 

SEC.  29.    The  township   Treasurer  shall,  annually,. 
between   the  first  and   twentieth   of   February,   settle   SeUiement    of 
•with  the  county  Auditor,  and  account  to  him  for  all   Auditor  and 
moneys  received,  from  whom  and  on  what  account,    Treasurer- 
and  the  amount  paid  out  for  school  purposes  in  his 
township;  the  Auditor  shall  examine  the  vouchers  for 
such  payments,  and,  if  satisfied  with  the  correctness 


264 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


Auditor's  certif 
icate. 


Treasurer  to  de- 
liver  over 
books,  papers, 
etc. 


Treasurer's 
ceipt,  etc. 


Penalty 
township  Treas 
urer. 


thereof,  shall  certify  the  same,  which  certificate  shall 
be  prima  facie  a  discharge  of  such  Treasurer;  and  at 
the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service,  said  Treasurer 
shall  deliver  over  to  his  successor  in  office,  all  books 
and  papers,  with  all  moneys,  or  other  property,  in  his 
hands,  belonging  to  said  township,  or  the  schools 
therein,  and  also  all  orders  he  may  have  redeemed 
since  his  last  annual  settlement  with  the  county 
Auditor,  and  take  the  receipt  of  his  successor  therefor, 
which  he  shall  deposit  with  the  township  Clerk  within 
ten  days  thereafter;  and  for  making  such  annual  settle 
ment,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  the  sum  of  one 
dollar,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  county  treasury,  on  the 
order  of  the  county  Auditor. 

SEC.  30.  In  case  the  township  Treasurer  shall  fail  to 
make  such  annual  settlement  within  the  time  as  pre 
scribed  in  the  preceding  section,  he  shall  be  liable  to 
pay  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars,  to  be  recovered  in  a  civil 
action  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  when  col 
lected,  to  be  applied  to  the  use  of  common  schools  in 
the  proper  township;  and  it  is  hereby  made  the  duty 
of  the  county  Auditor  to  proceed  forthwith,  in  case  of 
such  failure,  by  suit,  against  such  Treasurer,  before 
any  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  his  county,  to  recover  the 
penalty  aforesaid;  but  when  it  shall  appear,  on  trial,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  said  Justice,  that  said  Treasurer  was 
prevented  from  making  such  settlement  within  the 
time  prescribed,  by  sickness,  or  unavoidable  absence 
from  home,  and  that  such  settlement  has  since  been 
actually  made,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Justice  to  dis 
charge  such  Treasurer  on  the  payment  of  costs. 


ored  children. 


SCHOOLS  FOB  COLORED  CHILDREN. 

SEC  31.  The  township  Boards  of  Education  in  this 
Schools  for  col-  State,  in  their  respective  townships,  and  the  several 
other  Boards  of  Education,  and  the  Trustees,  Visitors, 
and  Directors  of  Schools,  or  other  officers  having  author 
ity  in  the  premises,  of  each  city  or  incorporated  vil 
lage,  shall  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and 
required  to  establish  within  their  respective  jurisdic 
tions,  one  or  more  separate  schools  for  colored  children, 
when  the  whole  number,  by  enumeration,  exceeds 
thirty,  so  as  to  afford  them,  as  far  as  practicable  und«*r 
all  the  circumstances,  the  advantages  and  privileging 
a  common  school  education;  and  all  such  schools,  so 
established  for  colored  children,  shall  be  und»-r  tl>»^ 
control  and  management  of  the  Board  of  Educ-.-iti'-n, 
or  other  school  officers  who  have  in  charge  the 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT.  265 

tional  interests  of  the  other  schools;  but  in  case  the 
average  number  of  colored  children  in  attendance  shall 
be  less  than  fifteen  for  any  one  month,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  said  Board  of  Education,  or  other  school  offi 
cers,  to  discontinue  said  school  or  schools,  for  any 
period  not  exceeding  six  months  at  any  one  time;  and 
if  the  number  of  colored  children  shall  be  less  than 
fifteen,  the  Directors  shall  reserve  the  money  raised  on 
the  number  of  said  colored  children,  and  the  money  so 
reserved  shall  be  appropriated  for  the  education  of 
such  colored  children,  under  the  direction  of  the  town 
ship  Board. 

CITIES    AND    VILLAGES. 

SEC.  32.  Each  city  or  incorporated  village,  including 
the  territory  annexed  to  the  same  for  school  purposes,   What  cities  and 

,-,          •'.  .    ^  I-J-L         i  villages   are 

not  otherwise  specially  regulated  by  charter,  or  gov-  school  districts. 
erned  as  to  schools  by  laws  as  specified  in  the  sixty- 
seventh  section  of  this  act,  and  which,  with  the  terri 
tory  annexed,  contains  not  less  than  three  hundred 
inhabitants,  shall  be,  and  hereby  is  created  a  separate 
school  district;  and  the  qualified  voters  of  such  city  or 
village,  with  the  territory  annexed,  s|iall,  at  the  same 
time,  and  in  the  same  manner,  that  local  Directors  of  the 
sub-districts  of  the  township  are  elected  by  the  provis 
ions  of  this  act,  proceed  to  elect  three  persons  who 
shall  constitute  a  Board  of  Education  for  such  city  or 
village,  with  the  territory  so  annexed,  and  such  Board 
shall  have  the  same  powers,  perform  the  same  duties, 
and  be  subject  to  the  same  penalties  as  township  Boards 
of  Education:  provided,  that  by  agreement  between  the 
Board  of  Education  of  the  township  in  which  such  city 
or  village,  with  the  territory  annexed,  may  be  situated, 
and  the  Board  of  Education  of  such  city  or  village, 
transfers  of  territory  not  within  the  limits  of  such  cor 
poration,  may  be  made  to  or  from  the  districts  provided 
for  in  this  section. 

SEC.  33.  That  said  Board  of  Education,  in  any  city  power  of  Board 
or  incorporated  village,  shall  be  authorized,  when  they  in  cities  and 
think  it  advisable,  to  divide  such  city  or  village  into 
sub-districts;  and  they  may  establish  schools  of  differ 
ent  grades,  and  ordain  such  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  government  and  discipline  of  such  schools  as  they 
may  think  conducive  to  the  public  good;  and  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  the  township  Board  of  Education,  in  any 
•township  in  which  such  city  or  incorporated  village  is 
situate,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Edu 
cation  of  any  such  city  or  incorporated  village,  to  transfer 


266 


GENERAL    SCHOOL   ACT. 


Clerk  of  the 
Board  —  bis  du- 
tiei. 


Duty  of  Treasur 
er  of  city  or 
town. 


To  give  bond. 


Clerk  or  Record 
er's  receipt. 


Further   powers 
of  the  Board. 


Ev'ing  schools. 


thereto  for  educational  purposes  the  scholars  of  such 
parts  of  their  respective  townships  as  lie  adjacent  thereto, 
and  all  such  transfers  shall  be  controlled,  and  such 
schools  supported  in  the  same  manner,  and  on  the  same 
principles,  as  in  case  of  like  transfers  for  the  conve 
nience  of  schools  where  two  or  more  townships  adjoin, 
as  provided  in  this  act. 

SEC.  34.  In  all  such  cities  or  incorporated  villages, 
the  Clerk  or  Recorder  of  such  incorporated  body  shall 
be  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  he  shall 
do  and  perform  all  the  duties  required  of  the  Clerk  of  a 
township  Board  of  Education,  and  such  other  duties  as 
the  Board  of  Education  may,  from  time  to  time,  pre 
scribe;  and  all  orders  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the 
payment  of  money  shall  be  countersigned  by  the  Clerk 
or  Recorder  of  said  corporation,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Treasurer  of  any  such  city  or  incorporated  vil 
lage,  to  receive  and  disburse  the  school  funds  of  any 
such  city  or  village,  in  the  same  manner  as  is  required 
of  the  township  Treasurers  in  their  respective  townships, 
and  for  his  services  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same  com 
pensation:  Provided,  that  the  Board  of  Education  shall 
require  the  Treasurer  to  enter  into  a  bond,  as  required 
of  township  Treasurers,  and  that  the  said  Treasurer  shall 
furnish  the  Auditor  a  certificate  from  the  Clerk  or  Re 
corder  of  such  city  or  incorporated  village,  that  such 
Treasurer  has  executed  and  deposited  such  bond,  stating 
also  the  amount,  as  is  required  of  township  Treasurers 
in  similar  cases. 

SEC.  35.  The  Board  of  Education  of  any  city  or  in 
corporated  village,  shall  have,  and  may  exercise  all  the 
powers  which  are  by  this  act  conferred  upon  the  town 
ship  Boards  of  Education,  and  shall  do  and  perform  the 
like  duties,  in  all  respects,  so  far  as  applicable,  and  the 
school  funds  shall  be  divided  among  the  sub-districts, 
so  as  to  make  the  distribution  as  nearly  equitable  as 
possible.  All  taxes  for  building,  purchasing,  repairing, 
or  furnishing  school-houses  and  lots,  shall  be  equally 
assessed  on  all  the  property  subject  to  taxation  in  such 
city  or  incorporated  village,  and  the  Board  of  Education, 
in  expending  the  same,  shall  make  the  necessary  pro 
visions  for  the  sub-districts. 

SEC.  36.  In  any  district  or  sub-district,  composed,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  of  any  city  or  incorporated  village, 
the  Board  of  Education  may,  at  their  discretion,  provide 
a  suitable  number  of  evening  schools,  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  such  youth  over  twelve  years  of  age  as  are 
prevented,  by  their  daily  avocation,  from  attending 
day  schools,  subject  to  such  regulations  as  said  Board, 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


267 


from  time   to  time,  may  adopt   for    the   government 
thereof. 


APPORTIONMENT   OP   SCHOOL  FUNDS. 

SEC.  37.  The  Auditor  of  State  shall,  annually,  appor 
tion  the  common  school  funds  among  the  different 
counties,  upon  the  enumeration  and  returns  made  to 
him  by  the  State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools,  and 
certify  the  amount  so  apportioned  to  the  county  Auditor 
of  each  county,  stating  from  what  sources  the  same  is 
derived,  which  said  sum  the  several  county  Treasurers 
shall  retain  in  their  respective  treasuries  from  the  State 
funds;  and  the  county  Auditors  shall,  annually,  and  im 
mediately  after  their  annual  settlement  with  the  county 
Treasurer,  apportion  the  school  funds  for  their  respective 
counties,  according  to  the  enumeration  and  returns  in 
their  respective  offices;  and  no  township,  or  other  dis 
trict,  city,  or  village,  which  shall  have  failed  to  make 
and  return  such  enumeration,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive 
any  portion  of  the  common  school  funds.  And,  in 
making  such  distribution,  each  county  Auditor  shall 
apportion  all  moneys  collected  on  the  tax  duplicate  of 
any  township,  for  the  use  of  schools,  to  such  township; 
all  moneys  received  from  the  State  treasury,  on  account 
of  interest  on  the  money  accruing  from  the  sale  of  sec 
tion  sixteen,  or  other  lands  in  lieu  thereof,  to  the  civil 
townships  and  parts  of  civil  townships  in  the  original 
surveyed  township,  or  fractional  township,  to  which 
such  land  belongs;  all  moneys  received  by  the  county 
Treasurer  on  account  of  the  Virginia  Military  school 
fund,  United  States  Military  District,  and  Connecticut 
Western  Reserve,  according  to  laws  regulating  the 
same;  and  all  other  moneys  for  the  use  of  schools  in 
the  county,  and  not  otherwise  appropriated  by  law,  to 
the  proper  township;  and  he  shall,  immediately  after 
making  said  apportionment,  enter  the  same  into  a  book, 
to  be  kept  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  furnish  the  town 
ship  Treasurers  and  township  Clerks,  Treasurers,  and 
Recorders  of  incorporated  cities  or  villages,  as  the  case 
may  be,  each  with  a  copy  of  said  apportionment,  and 
give  an  order  on  the  county  Treasurer  to  each  township 
Treasurer,  or  to  such  Treasurer  as  may  be  entitled  to 
receive  the  same,  for  the  amount  of  money  .belonging 
to  his  respective  township,  city,  or  village,  and  take  a 
receipt  from  such  Treasurer  for  the  amount  thus  re 
ceived;  and  the  said  county  Auditor  shall  collect,  or 
cause  to  be  collected,  the  fines,  and  all  other  moneys 
for  school  purposes,  in  his  county,  and  pay  the  same 


State  Auditor  to 
apportion  funds 
and  certify  ap 
portionment. 


County  Auditor 
to  make  appor- 
tionment  in 
county  and  how. 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 

over  to  the  county  Treasurer;  and  he  shall  inspect  all 
accounts  of  interest  for  section  sixteen,  or  other 
school  lands,  whether  the  interest  is  paid  by  the  State 
or  by  the  debtors,  and  take  all  the  proper  measures  to 
secure  to  each  township  its  full  amount  of  school 
funds. 


Where  part  of  *  *^'   When  any  original  surveyed  township  in 

section  16  lies  in  which  section  sixteen  has  been  sold,  shall  lie  in  two  or 
two  counties.  more  counties,  the  Auditors  of  the  respective  counties 
shall  certify  to  the  Auditor  of  the  county  in  which  that 
portion  of  said  township  lies  containing  said  section 
sixteen,  the  enumeration  of  the  scholars  in  that  part  of 
said  township  embraced  within  their  respective  coun 
ties;  and  the  Auditor  of  said  county  in  which  said  sec 
tion  sixteen  is  situate  shall  apportion  the  fund  derived 
from  said  section  sixteen,  to  the  different  portions  of 
said  township  according  to  said  enumeration,  and  shall 
certify  to  the  Auditors  of  the  other  counties  the  amount 
belonging  to  the  parts  of  said  township  situate  in  their 
respective  counties,  and  draw  an  order  in  favor  of  the 
Treasurers  of  the  other  counties  on  the  Treasurer  of  his 
own  county  for  the  amount  going  to  each;  and  the  Au 
ditors  of  the  respective  counties  shall  apportion  the 
same,  in  their  respective  counties,  to  such  portions  or 
parts  thereof  as  may  be  entitled  thereto. 

SEC.  39.  The  interest  on  the  purchase  of  any  such 

interest  on  tec-  .          .  ,.         .  i        •    •      i  j 

tion.  section  sixteen  belonging  to  any  such  original  surveyed 

township,  so  as  aforesaid  lying  in  two  or  more  coun 
ties,  shall  be  paid  over  on  the  order  of  the  Auditor  of 
that  county  in  which  such  section  sixteen  is  embraced, 
to  the  Treasurer  of  the  same  county,  to  be  apportioned 
as  is  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  section. 

RETURN  OF  ABSTRACT  TO  STATE  COMMISSIONER. 

Duty  of  county  SEC.  40-  The  Auditor  of  each  and  every  county  shall, 
Auditor  as  to  on  or  before  the  twentieth  day  of  December,*  annually, 
make  out  and  transmit  to  the  Commissioner  of  Common 
Schools,  at  Columbus,  an  abstract  of  all  the  returns  of 
school  statistics  made  to  him  from  the  several  townships 
in  his  county,  according  to  the  form  that  may  be  pre 
scribed  by  the  State  Commissioner;  and  he  shall  cause 
to  be  distributed  all  such  circulars,  blanks,  and  other 
papers,  including  school  laws  and  documents,  in  the 
several  townships  in  the  county,  as  said  Commissioner 
shall  lawfully  require.  In  case  the  county  Auditor 


*  Modified:  See  chapter  xm.    Thii  report  must  be  transmitted  on  or 
before  the  fifth  day  of  November. 


GENERAL   SCHOOL  ACT.        ,  269 


shall  fail,  from  any  cause,  to  make  return  of  the  ab-  . 

stract  as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  ton 
Commissioners  to  deduct  for  every  such  failure,  from 
the  annual  salary  or  allowance  made  to  the  Auditor 
for  his  services,  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars. 

SEC.  41.  The  county  Commissioners  of  each  county  compensation  to 
in   this  State  shall  make  the  same  allowance  to  the   county  Auditor. 
county  Auditors,  out  of  their  respective  county  treas 
uries,  for  services  performed  and  expenses  incurred 
under  this  act,  as  is  allowed  for  other  services  of  like 
nature. 

SEC,  42.  The  township  Clerks  and  county  Auditors  Liability  of  the 
shall  be  responsible  for  all  losses  sustained  by  any  Pyleijttditd«0f?i 
township  or  county,  by  reason  of  any  failure  on  their  loss. 
respective  parts  to  make  and  return  the  enumerations 
and  abstracts  thereof  as  herein   provided,  and  shall 
each  be  liable  for  the  same-,  in  a  civil  action,  at  the  suit 
of  the  State  of  Ohio;   and  the  amounts  so  recovered 
shall  be  apportioned,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  school 
funds  would  have  been,  to  the  respective  counties  or 
townships,  as  the  case  may  be. 

SCHOOL-HOUSES   EXEMPT  FROM   SALE   ON   EXECUTION. 

SEC.  43.  Each  and  every  lot  or  parcel  of  land  which      what    school 
heretofore  has  been,  or  hereafter  shall  be  appropriated  property  exempt 

f      ,,  ,,  i       i     •       i  •      01     ^  T  •   i      from  execution. 

for  the  use  of  common  schools  in  this  State,  on  which 
there  has  been  or  shall  be  a  school-house  erected,  and 
which  has  been  or  shall  be  occupied  for  the  purpose  of 
accommodating  a  common  school  of  whatever  grade, 
in  the  usual  manner,  from  time  to  time,  howsoever  or 
by  whomsoever  the  legal  title  to  the  same  may  be  held 
and  vested,  shall  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  exempted 
from  sale,  on  any  execution,  or  other  writ,  or  order  in 
the  nature  of  an  execution:  Provided,  that  the  lot  of 
land  so  exempted,  shall  not  exceed  four  acres,  and  if 
there  be  any  excess,  that  portion  most  convenient  for 
school  purposes  shall  remain  exempt  as  aforesaid,  to  be 
determined  by  the  proper  School  Directors,  or  other 
officers  having  charge  of  schools. 


APPOINTMENT  OF   SCHOOL  EXAMINERS,   AND    THEIR    DUTIES. 

SEC.  44.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Probate  Judge,   Probate    judge 

to  appoint  boar  J 
of  examiners. 


in  the  several  counties  of  this'State,  as  soon  after  the   toaPP°intboard 


election  of  school  officers  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act  as  practicable,  to  appoint  a  county  Board  of  School 
Examiners,  to  consist  of  three  competent  persons,  resi 
dent  in  the  county,  who  shall  hold  their  office  for  the 


270 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


Powers  and  du 
ties  of  Board. 


Notice  of  meet 
ings- 


To  grant  certifi 
cates  to  teachers. 


May  revoke  the 
came. 


Clerk  of  Board. 


Rulea  of  Board; 
their  fees. 


Stationery. 


term  of  two  years,  and  until  their  successors  are  ap 
pointed;  and  all  vacancies  in  said  Board  which  may 
thereafter  occur,  whether  from  expiration  of  the  term 
of  office,  refusal  to  serve,  or  otherwise,  shall  be  filled 
by  like  appointment  by  said  Judge. 

SEC.  45.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Examiners  to  fix 
upon  the  time  of  holding  meetings  for  the  examination 
of  teachers,  in  such  places  in  their  respective  counties 
as  will,  in  their  opinion,  best  accommodate  the  greatest 
number  of  candidates  for  examination;  notice  of  all 
such  meetings  having  been  published  in  some  newspaper 
of  general  circulation  in  their  respective  counties;  and 
at  such  meetings,  any  two  of  said  Board  shall  be  com 
petent  to  examine  applicants  and  grant  certificates;  but 
no  fee  or  charge  shall  be  made  for  a  certificate.  No 
certificate  of  qualification  shall  be  valid  in  any  county 
except  that  in  which  the  examination  took  place,  nor 
for  a  longer  period  than  two  years,  and  if  at  any  time 
the  recipient  of  the  certificate  shall  be  found  incompe 
tent  or  negligent,  the  Examiners,  or  any  two  of  them, 
may  revoke  the  same,  and  require  such  teachers  to  be 
dismissed;  but  such  teachers  shall  be  entitled  to  receive 
payment  for  services  only  up  to  the  time  of  such  dis 
missal;  and  no  person  shall  be  employed  as  a  teacher 
in  any  primary  common  school,  unless  such  person 
shall  have  first  obtained  from  said  Examiners,  or  any 
two  of  them,  a  certificate  of  good  moral  character,  and 
that  he  or  she  is  qualified  to  teach  Orthography,  Read 
ing,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Geography,  and  English 
Grammar;  and,  in  case  such  person  intends  to  teach  in 
any  common  school  of  higher  grade,  he  or  she  shall 
first  obtain  a  certificate  of  the  requisite  qualifications 
in  addition  to  the  branches  aforesaid. 

SEC.  46.  The  said  Board  of  Examiners  shall  appoint 
one  of  their  number  to  serve  as  Clerk,  who  shall  keep 
a  record  of  their  proceedings,  noting  the  number  and 
date  of  each  certificate  given,  to  whom,  for  what  term 
of  time,  and  for  what  branches  of  studies;  and  the  said 
Board  may  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  proper  discharge  of  their  duties.  The  members  of 
the  Board  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  each  one  dollar 
and  fifty  cents  for  every  day  necessarily  engaged  in 
official  service,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  county  treasury, 
on  the  order  of  the  county  Auditor,  exclusive  of  blank 
books  and  stationery,  which  the  county  Auditor  shall 
furnish;  and  the  county  Auditor  may  require  the  ac 
counts,  when  presented,  to  be  substantiated  on  oath, 
which  said  officer  may  administer  and  file  in  his  office. 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


271 


STATE   COMMISSIONER. 

SEC.  47.  There  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  elect 
ors  of  this  State,  at  the  next  annual  election  for  State 
and  county  officers,  and  every  three  years  thereafter,  a 
State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools,  who  shall  hold 
his  office  for  the  term  of  three  years,  and  until  his  suc 
cessor  is  elected  and  qualified.  The  election  of  said 
Commissioner,  and  the  returns  thereof,  shall  be  the 
same,  in  all  respects,  as  is  provided  for  the  election  of 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court;  and  in  case  a  vacancy 
shall  happen  in  said  office  by  death,  resignation,  or 
otherwise,  the  Governor  shall  till  the  same  by  appoint 
ment,  for  the  unexpired  term. 

SEC.  48.  Before  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duties,  the  said  Commissioner  shall  give  bond, 
in  the  penal  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  to  the  State 
of  Ohio,  with  two  or  more  sureties,  to  the  acceptance 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  conditioned  that  he  will  truly 
account  for  and  apply  all  moneys,  or  other  property, 
which  may  come  into  his  hands  in  his  official  capacity, 
for  the  use  and  benefit  of  common  schools,  and  that  he 
will  faithfully  perform  the  duties  enjoined  upon  him 
according  to  law;  and  he  shall  also  take  and  subscribe 
an  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  dili 
gently  and  faithfully  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his 
office,  as  prescribed  by  law,  which  bond,  with  the  cer 
tificate  of  his  oath  indorsed  thereon,  shall  be  filed  with 
the  Treasurer  of  State. 

SEC.  49.  The  books  and  papers  of  his  department 
shall  be  kept  at  the  seat  of  Government,  where  a  suita 
ble  office  shall  be  furnished  by  the  State,  at  which  he 
shall  give  attendance  when  not  absent  on  public  busi 
ness;  and  the  State  Librarian  shall,  in  addition  to  the 
duties  of  his  office,  discharge  the  duties  of  Secretary  to 
the  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools,  under  his 
direction. 

SEC.  50.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Commissioner  to 
spend,  annually,  on  an  average,  at  least  ten  days  in 
each  judicial  district  of  the  State,  superintending  and 
encouraging  Teachers'  Institutes,  conferring  with  town 
ship  Boards  of  Education,  or  other  school  officers,  coun 
seling  teachers,  visiting  schools,  and  delivering  lectures 
on  topics  calculated  to  subserve  the  interests  of  popu 
lar  education. 

SEC.  51.  As  soon  as  the  revenues,  to  be  raised  as 
hereinafter  provided,  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the 


When    Commis 
sioner  elected. 


Term  of  office. 


Vacancy,    how 
filled. 


His  official  bond 


and  oath. 


Office,  etc.,  at 
seat  of  Govern 
ment. 


His  Secretary. 


His  duties  in  vis 
iting  the  several 
judicial  dis 
tricts, 


and  in  pur 
chasing  books 
and  apparatus. 


272 


GENERAL   SCHOOL  ACT. 


His  supervision 
over  school 
funds. 


May  require  re 
ports  from  cer 
tain  officers. 


To     prepare 
forms,  etc. 


Duties  as  to  dis- 
tribution  of 
school  laws,  etc. 


His  annual   re 
port. 


schools  with  libraries  and  apparatus,  will  admit,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  said  Commissioner,  to  purchase  the 
same,  and  the  books  and  apparatus  so  purchased  >hail 
be  distributed  through  the  Auditor's  office  of  each 
county  to  the  Board  of  Education  in  each  township, 
city  or  incorporated  village,  according  to  the  enumera 
tion  of  scholars. 

SEC.  52.  He  shall  also  exercise  such  supervision  over 
the  educational  funds  of  the  State  as  may  be  necessary 
to  secure  their  safety,  and  right  application,  and  dis 
tribution  according  to  law.  He  shall  have  power  to 
require  of  county  Auditors,  township  Boards  of  Educa 
tion,  or  other  local  school  officers,  Clerks  and  Treasurers 
of  townships,  county  Treasurers  and  Clerks,  Recorders 
and  Treasurers  of  cities  and  villages,  copies  of  all 
reports  by  them  required  to  be  made,  and  all  such 
other  information  in  relation  to  the  funds  and  condition 
of  schools,  and  the  management  thereof,  as  he  may 
deem  important. 

SEC.  53.  He  shall  prescribe  suitable  forms  and  regu 
lations  fur  making  all  reports  and  conducting  all  neces 
sary  proceedings  under  this  act,  and  shall  cause  the 
same,  with  such  instructions  as  he  shall  deem  necessary 
and  proper  for  the  organization  and  government  of 
schools,  to  be  transmitted  to  the  local  school  officers, 
who  shall  be  governed  in  accordance  therewith. 

SEC.  54.  He  shall  cause  as  many  copies  of  the  laws 
relating  to  schools  and  Teachers'  Institutes,  with  an 
appendix  of  appropriate  forms  and  instructions  for  car 
rying  into  execution  all  such  laws,  to  be  printed  in  a 
separate  volume,  and  distributed  to  each  county  with 
the  laws,  journals,  and  other  documents  for  the  use  of 
the  school  officers  therein,  as  often  after  the  first  dis 
tribution  as  any  change  in  said  laws  may  be  made,  of 
sufficient  importance,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Commis 
sioner,  to  require  a  republication  and  distribution 
thereof. 

SEC.  55.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Commissioner 
of  Common  Schools  to  make  an  annual  report,  on  or 
before  the  twentieth  day  of  January,  in  each  and  every 
year,*  to  the  General  Assembly,  when  the  body  shall  bo 
in  session  any  such  year;  and  when  not  in  session  in 
any  one  year,  then  the  report  shall  be  made  to  the  Gov 
ernor,  who  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  published,  and 
shall  also  communicate  a  copy  thereof  to  the  next 
General  Assembly. 


*  Modified:  see  chapter  xm.    Thii  report  muit  be  made  "  on  or  before 
the  twentieth  day  of  November." 


GENERAL  SCHOOL  ACT. 


273 


SEC.  56.  The  State  Commissioner,  in  the  annual  What  it  .shall 
report  of  his  labors  and  observations,  shall  present  a  Preaent- 
statement  of  the  condition  and  amount  of  all  funds  and 
property  appropriated  to  purposes  of  education;  a  state 
ment  of  the  number  of  common  schools  in  the  State, 
the  number  of  scholars  attending  such  schools,  their 
sex,  and  the  branches  taught;  a  statement  of  the  num 
ber  of  private  or  select  schools  in  the  State,  so  far  as 
the  same  can  be  ascertained,  and  the  number  of 
scholars  attending  such  schools,  their  sex,  and  the 
branches  taught;  a  statement  of  the  number  of  Teach 
ers'  Institutes,  and  the  number  of  teachers  attending 
them;  a  statement  of  the  estimates  and  accounts  of  the 
expenditures  of  the  public  school  funds  of  every 
description;  a  statement  of  plans  for  the  management 
and  improvement  of  common  schools,  and  such  other 
information  relative  to  the  educational  interests  of  the 
State  as  he  may  think  of  importance. 

SEC.  57.  The  said  Commissioner  shall  be  entitled  to  salary  of  Com- 
receive  for  his  services  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dol- 
lars  annually,  payable  quarterly,  out  of  the  State  treas 
ury,  on  the  warrant  of  the  Auditor  of  State. 


SCHOOL   LIBRARIES.* 

SEC.  58.  For  the  purpose  of  furnishing  school  libra-  One-tenth  of  a 
ries  and  apparatus,  to  all  the  common  schools  in  the  Messed  ?orbiibra- 
State,  and  for  the  further  purpose  of  sustaining  and  ries; 
increasing  such  libraries,  and  keeping  up  a  supply  of 
school  apparatus  in  the  schools,  as  aforesaid,  from  time 
to  time,  as  may  be  considered  necessary,  in  order  to 
afford  equal  facilities  to  the  said  schools  in  this  respect, 
as  nearly  as  practicable,  there  shall  hereafter  be  as 
sessed,  collected,  and  paid  annually,  in  the  same  man 
ner  as  the  State  and  county  revenues  are  assessed, 
collected  and  paid  on  the  grand  list  of  property  taxable 
for  State  purposes,  a  State  tax  of  one-tenth  of  one  mill 
on  the  dollar  valuation,  to  be  applied  exclusively  for 
the  purposes  aforesaid,  and  the  attendant  expenses, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Commissioner  of  Common 
Schools.  In  purchasing  the  libraries  for  the  common 
schools,  no  books  of  sectarian  or  denominational  char 
acter  shall  be  purchased  for  said  libraries. 

SEC.  59.  The  amount  of   said  tax,  when  collected,   J^h  £  l^« 
shall  be  paid  over  by  the  county  Treasurers  to  the   Treasurer. 


*The  General  Assembly,  having  omitted  at  the  session  of  1856,  to 
appropriate  for  this  purpose,  the  operation  of  sections  58-62  is  sus 
pended. 

18 


274 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


Distribution  of 


Who  account 
able  for  same 


State  Treasurer,  at  the  time  of  making  their  annual 
settlement,  and  shall  be  paid  out  by  that  officer  for  the 
purposes  aforesaid,  upon  the  warrant  of  the  State 
Auditor. 

SEC.  60.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  Auditor, 
ap  wnen  tne  said  libraries  or  apparatus  shall  be  received, 
to  distribute  the  same  to  the  Clerks  of  the  township 
Boards  of  Education,  or  other  local  school  officers,  in 
their  respective  counties,  having  in  charge  the  interests 
of  common  schools;  and  the  books  and  apparatus  so 
furnished,  shall  be  deemed  the  property  of  said  several 
Boards,  or  local  school  officers,  to  whom  the  same  may 
have  been  delivered,  and  shall  not  be  subject  to  execu 
tion,  sale  or  alienation,  for  any  cause  whatever. 

SEC.  61.  The  local  Boards  of  Education,  or  other 
school  officers  having  charge  of  common  schools  shall 
be  held  accountable  for  the  preservation  of  said  li 
braries  and  apparatus;  and  they  shall  have  power  to 
prescribe  the  time  of  taking  and  the  periods  of  return 
ing  the  books  belonging  to  the  libraries,  and  also  to 
assess  and  collect  the  damages  which  may  be  done  to 
the  books  by  persons  entitled  to  their  use;  and  also  to 
provide  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  school  apparatus. 

SEC.  62.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  local  School 
Boards,  or  other  school  officers  having  charge  of 
schools,  to  appoint  the  Librarians  and  determine  the 
places  where  the  libraries  shall  be  deposited,  selecting 
such  central  points  as  will  best  accommodate  the 
schools  and  families  of  the  districts  or  sub-districts,  as 
hereinafter  provided;  and  every  family  in  each  district 
or  sub-district  shall  be  entitled  to  the  use  of  one  vol- 
tito1  to  books.  ume  at  a  time  from  the  school  library,  although  no 
member  of  such  family  attends  any  of  the  schools  of 
the  township;  and  the  library  shall  be  open,  under  the 
inspection  of  the  Librarian,  at  stated  periods  through 
out  the  year,  to  be  prescribed  by  the  JBoard  of  Educa 
tion,  or  other  proper  school  officers,  without  regard  to 
the  sessions  of  the  schools. 


Who  to  appoint 
Librarian,  etc. 


STATE   SCHOOL   FUNDS. 

TWO  mills  on  ^EC.  ^3.    For  the  purpose  of  affording  the  advan- 

the  dollar  to  be  tages  of  a  free  education  to  all  the  youth  of  this  State, 

s?hooTd  purp°r  the  State  common  school  fund  shall  hereafter  consist 

•teg.Hn.i  collect-  of  such  sum  as  will  be  produced  by  the  annual  levy 

ttMdl0            '"  and  assessment  of  two  mills*  upon  the  dollar  valuation, 

*  By  act  of  May  1,  1854,  a  Ux  of  "one  and  one  half  mill"  w*i  rob- 
•tltnted  for  the  above  rate*:  and  this  section,  with  that  change,  re- 
enacted. 


GENERAL    SCHOOL    ACT. 


275 


on  the  grand  list  of  the  taxable  property  of  the  State; 
and  there  is  hereby  levied  and  assessed  annually,  in 
addition  to  the  revenues  required  for  general  purposes, 
the  said  two  mills*  upon  the  dollar  valuation,  as  afore 
said;  and  the  amount  so  levied  and  assessed,  shall  be 
collected  in  the  same  manner  as  other  State  taxes,  and 
when  collected,  shall  be  annually  distributed  to  the 
several  counties  of  the  State,  in  proportion  to  the 
enumeration  of  scholars,  and  be  applied  exclusively  to 
the  support  of  common  schools. 

SEC.  64.  The  debts  which  have  heretofore  been  con-      Debts  of  dis 
tracted  by  any  school  district  for  school  purposes,  shall 
be  provided  for  by  the  estimates  of  the  proper  School 
Boards  created  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

SEC.  65.  The  process,  in  all  suits  against  any  town-   Process  against 
ship  Board  of  Education,  or  other  local  officers  having   sch°o1    officer8' 
charge  of  any  of  the  public  schools  under  the  provis 
ions  of  this  act,   shall  be  by  summons,  and  shall  be 
executed  by  leaving  a  copy  thereof  with  the  Clerk  or 
Secretary  of  such  Board,  or  other  school  officers,  at 
least  ten  days  before  the  return  day  thereof.     And  any 
suit  either  in  favor  of  or  against  any  such  Board,  or 
other  school  officers,  shall  be  prosecuted  or  defended,   Duty  of  Prose- 
as  the  case  may  be,  by  the  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  the  ° 
proper  county,  as  a  part  of  his  official  duties. 

SEC.  66.  The  local  Board  of  Education,  or  other  HOW  schools 
local  officers  having  charge  of  schools  in  any  city,  SheVlaws^ay 
township,  or  village,  in  which  common  schools  have  accept  this  act. 
been  organized  under  the  act  for  the  better  regulation 
of  public  schools  in  cities,  towns,  etc.,  or  under  any 
special  act,  shall  be,  and  are  hereby  authorized,  when 
ever  they  may  deem  it  expedient,  to  call  a  meeting  of 
the  qualified  voters  of  any  such  city,  township  or  vil 
lage,  on  giving  thirty  days  public  notice  thereof,  to 
determine  by  vote  whether  the  common  schools  of  such 
city,  township  or  village,  shall  be  conducted  and 
managed  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act; 
and  if  a  majority  of  the  voters  are  found  to  be  in  favor 
of  the  change,  then  said  local  Board,  or  other  local 
school  officers,  shall  thereafter  proceed,  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  until  their  successors 
shall  be  elected  and  qualified;  and  such  city  or  village 
may  provide  by  ordinance  for  the  election  or  appoint 
ment  of  a  Board  of  Education,  prescribing  their  num 
ber  and  terms  of  office;  and  such  Board,  when  so 
elected  or  appointed  and  qualified,  shall,  together  with 


*  By  act  of  May  1,  1854,  a  tax  of  "one  and  one-half  mill"  was  sub 
stituted  for  the  above  rate:  and  this  section,  with  that  change,  re- 
enacted. 


276 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


Certain  acts  not 
repealed  by  this 
act. 


fected.and  bow. 


the  Clerk  or  Recorder  of  such  city  or  village,  possess 
the  same  powers  and  discharge  the  same  duties,  within 
the  limits  of  their  jurisdiction,  as  local  Directors  and 
Boards  of  Education  in  townships. 

SEC.  67.  This  act  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to 
repeal,  change,  or  modify  in  any  respect,  the  several 
provisions  of  the  "  act  for  the  support  and  better  reg 
ulation  of  common  schools  in  the  town  of  Akron," 
passed  February  8,  1847,  and  the  acts  amendatory 
thereto;  or  the  "  act  for  the  better  regulation  of  schools 
in  cities,  towns,  etc.,"  passed  February  21,  1849,  and 
the  acts  amendatory  thereto,  nor  the  several  acts  ere- 
But  such  acts  ar-  atine:  special  school  districts,  or  any  other  special  acts 

fAA»n,i        ,     i     .       ...         ,  ^_       *.  _  .  i  *       •  ill 

in  relation  to  schools,  except  that  it  is  hereby  made  the 
duty  of  the  several  Boards  of  Education,  or  other 
school  officers  acting  under  the  provisions  of  any  of 
the  acts  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  this  sec 
tion,  to  make  similar  reports  of  school  statistics  annu 
ally,  as  required  of  school  officers  by  this  act;  nor 
shall  it  be  lawful  for  any  county  Treasurer  to  pay  over 
any  portion  of  the  school  fund  to  any  local  Treasurer, 
Board  of  Education,  or  other  school  officers  of  any 
city,  township,  or  village,  organized  as  to  schools 
either  under  a  general  or  a  special  law,  except  on  the 
order  of  the  Auditor  of  the  proper  county;  and  no 
such  order  shall  be  drawn  by  the  county  Auditor, 
unless  the  local  Treasurer,  Clerk,  Recorder,  or  Secre 
tary  of  such  Board,  or  other  school  officer,  shall  first 
deposit  with  said  Auditor  annually,  an  abstract  of  the 
enumeration  of  scholars  and  other  statistics  relative  to 
the  schools  under  their  charge,  as  required  by  this  act, 
of  teachers,  local  Directors,  and  Boards  of  Education  in 
townships. 

SEC.  68.  The  respective  township  Boards  of  Educa 
tion,  and  their  successors  in  office,  shall  have  power  to 
take  and  hold  in  trust,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  any  cen 
tral  or  high  school,  or  sub-district  school  in  the  town 
ship,  any  grant  or  devise  of  land,  and  any  donation  or 
bequest  of  money  or  other  personal  property,  to  be  ap 
plied  by  the  Board  to  the  maintenance  and  support  of 
any  such  school  or  schools,  according  to  the  intention 
of  the  grant  or  donation. 


Power  of  Board 
to  bold  real  es 
tate. 


R'-peallng 
tion. 


tWM.  --M. 


ACTS    REPEALED. 


SEC.  69.  That  "an  act  for  the  support  and  better 
regulation  of  common  schools,  and  to  create  p-nna- 
nently  the   office    of   Superintendent,"  passed    M 
seventh,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight; 


GENERAL   SCHOOL  ACT.  277 

an  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  support 
and  better  regulation  of  common  schools,  and  to  create 
permanently  the  office  of  Superintendent,"  passed  March   Swan,  840. 
sixteenth,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-nine; 
an  "act  to  abolish  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Com 
mon  Schools,"  passed  March  twenty-third,  one  thou-   swan,844. 
and  eight  hundred  and  forty;  an  act  to  amend  the  act 
entitled  "an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation 
of  common  schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the  office 
of  Superintendent,"  of  March  seventh,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight,  and  the  act  amendatory 
thereto,  passed  March  twenty-ninth,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-one;  an  act  to  amend  the  act  enti-   Swan,  844. 
tied  "an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of 
common  schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the  office 
of  Superintendent,"  passed  March  seventh,  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two;  an  act  further  to 
amend  the  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  support  and  bet-   40  R.  stat.  49. 
ter  regulation  of  common  schools,  and  to  create  per 
manently  the  office  of  Superintendent,"  passed  March 
eleventh,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-three; 
an  act  to  amend  the  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  sup-  4]  R.  stat. 59. 
port  and  better  regulation  of  common  schools,  and  to 
create    permanently    the    office    of    Superintendent," 
passed    March  twelfth,  one    thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-four;  an  "act  to  amend  the  sixth  section  of    42  R.  stat.  48, 
an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of  common 
schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the  office  of  Super 
intendent,"  passed  March  twelfth,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-five;  an  act  to  amend  the  act  enti 
tled  "an  act  to  amend  an  act  for  the  support  and  bet-  43  R.  stat. 98 
ter  regulation  of  common  schools,  and  to  create  perma 
nently    the  office  of   Superintendent,"   passed  March 
twelfth,  one  thousand  eight   hundred  and   forty-five; 
"an  act  authorizing  School  Directors  to  establish  libra-  43  R.  stat.  m 
ries  for  the  use  of  common  schools,"  passed  February 
twenty-eighth,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
six;  an  act  to  amend  an  act,  passed  March  eleventh, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-three,  entitled 
an  act  further  to  amend  the  act  entitled  "an  act  for  44 R.  stat.  8i. 
the  support  and  better  regulation  of  common  schools, 
and  to  create  permanently  the  office  of  Superintend 
ent,"  passed  March  second,  one  thousand  eight  hun 
dred  and  forty-six;  "an  act  to  provide  for  the  appoint-   44  R. stat.  114. 
ment  of  county  Superintendents  of  Common  Schools, 
and  defining  their  duties  in   certain  counties  therein 
named,"  passed  February  eighth,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-seven;  an  act  further  to  amend  the 
act  entitled  "an  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  an  act  45  R.  stat.  33. 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


45  R.  Stat.  26. 


46  R.  Stat.  83. 


46  R.  Stat.  38. 


46  R.  Stat.  81. 


46  R.  Stat.  83. 


46  R.  Stat.  51. 


47  R.  Stat.  17. 


47  R.  Stat.  39. 


47  R.  Stat.  43. 


for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of  common 
schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the  office  of  Super 
intendent,"  passed  February  eighth,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-seven;  an  act  to  amend  an  act  enti 
tled  "an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of 
common  schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the  office 
of  Superintendent,"  passed  March  seventh,  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight,  and  the  acts 
amendatory  thereto,  passed  February  twenty-fourth, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight;  "  an  act 
to  secure  the  returns  of  the  statistics  of  common 
schools,"  passed  January  twenty-first,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-eight;  an  act  to  provide  for 
the  establishment  of  common  schools,  for  the  educa 
tion  of  the  children  of  black  and  mulatto  persons,  and 
to  amend  the  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  support  and 
better  regulation  of  common  schools,  and  to  create  per 
manently  the  office  of  Superintendent,"  passed  March 
seventh,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight, 
and  the  acts  amendatory  thereto,  passed  February 
twenty- fourth,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
eight;  an  act  to  amend  the  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the 
support  and  better  regulation  of  common  schools,  and 
to  create  permanently  the  office  of  Superintendent," 
passed  March  seventh,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-eight,  and  the  acts  amendatory  thereto,  passed 
February  twenty-fourth,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-eight;  an  act  to  amend  the  eighteenth  section 
of  the  school  law  of  March  seventh,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-eight,  passed  February  fourteenth, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty -eight;  "an  act 
to  authorize  the  establishment  of  separate  schools  for 
the  education  of  colored  children,  and  for  other  pur 
poses,"  passed  February  tenth,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-nine;  an  act  to  amend  an  act,  passed 
February  twenty-fourth,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-eight,  entitled  "an  act  to  amend  the  act  enti 
tled  an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of  com 
mon  schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the  office  of 
Superintendent,"  passed  March  seventh,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight;  and  the  acts  amenda 
tory  thereto,  passed  March  sixth,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-nine;  an  act  to  amend  an  act  enti 
tled  "an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of 
common  schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the  office 
of  Superintendent,"  passed  March  twelfth,  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  forty-nine;  an  act  to  amend  an 
act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regula 
tion  of  common  schools,  and  to  create  permanently  the 


GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 


279 


office  of  Superintendent,"  passed  Marcli  seventh,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight,  and  the  acts 
amendatory  thereto,  passed  March  twenty -fourth,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-nine;  an  act  in  rela-   47  B.  stat.  52. 
tion  to  school  district  tax,  providing  for  the  annual 
school  district  meetings,  and  requiring  maps  of  school 
districts,  passed  March   seventh,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fifty;  an  act  for  the  appointment  of  a  State  48  R.  stat.  41. 
Board  of  Public  Instruction,  passed  March  twenty-sec 
ond,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty;  an  act  sup-  43  R.  stat.  44. 
plementary  to  the  act  for  the  appointment  of  a  State 
Board  of   Public  Instruction,  passed  March  twenty- 
third,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty;  an  "act  48  R.  stat.  47. 
providing  for  school  districts,  and  school  district  meet 
ings,   prescribing   the   duties  of   district  officers   and 
Clerks  and  Treasurers  of  townships,  and  increasing  the 
State  and  county  common  school  funds,"  passed  March  490R.  stat.  27 
twenty-fourth,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty- 
one — be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed:  Provided, 
that  the  obligations  or  liabilities  incurred,  and  the  rights  Liabilities     in- 

,        °,         ,  ..  ,,  ;,,  .     ,  °  curred,    and 

acquired  under  the  provisions  oi.  any  or  the  acts  here-   rights  acquired, 
by  repealed,  shall  remain,  and  be  in  no  wise  altered  or  "ot  affected, 
affected,  but  may  be  enforced,  as  if  this  act  had  not 
been    passed;  and   the  school   officers    in   the   several 
school  districts  of  the  State,  as  now  organized,  shall 
hold  their  respective  offices,  and  perform  their  respect 
ive  duties,  until  the  local  Directors  herein  provided  for, 
shall  have  been  elected  and  qualified. 

JAMES  C.  JOHNSON, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

GEORGE  REX, 
President  of  the  Senate,  pro  tempore. 


280 


THE    AKKON    SCHOOL   LAWS. 


CHAPTER   II. 


THE  AKRON  SCHOOL  LAWS. 


Six      Directors 
shall  be  elected. 


Board  of  Educa- 
tion,  officers, 
powers,  etc. 


An  Act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of  Commoii 
Schools  in  the  town  of  Akron. 

[Passed  February  8, 1847,  XLVI  vol.  Stat.  105.] 

SEC.  1 .  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  the  electors  in  the  town  of  Akrou, 
in  the  county  of  Summit,  qualified  to  vote  for  members 
of  the  town  Council,  shall,  at  the  time  and  place  of 
holding  the  annual  election  for  said  members  of  the 
town  Council,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-seven,  meet  and  elect  six  Directors  of  the 
Common  School  for  said  town  of  Akron;  two  of  whom 
shall  serve  for  one  year,  two  for  two  years,  and  two  for 
three  years;  the  order  of  seniority  to  be  determined  by 
lot,  by  such  Directors,  after  the  election,  and  annually 
thereafter,  at  the  time  and  place  above  specified;  there 
shall,  in  like  manner,  be  two  Directors  elected,  who 
shall  serve  for  three  years,  and  until  their  successors 
are  elected  and  qualified.  All  vacancies  which  may 
occur,  shall  be  filled  by  the  town  Council. 

SEC.  2.  The  said  Directors,  within  ten  days  after  their 
first  appointment  as  aforesaid,  shall  meet  and  organize, 
by  choosing  from  their  number  a  President,  Secretary, 
and  Treasurer;  and  such  Treasurer,  before  he  enters  on 
the  duties  of  his  said  office,  shall  give  bond  and  secu 
rity,  to  be  approved  by  the  town  Council,  and  filed  in 
the  office  of  the  Mayor  of  said  town,  conditioned  for 
the  faithful  disbursement  of  all  moneys  that  shall  come 
into  his  hands  as  such  Treasurer,  which  bond  shall  be 
made  payable  to  the  State  of  Ohio;  and  when  such 
bond  shall  be  forfeited,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  town 
Council  to  sue  and  collect  the  same,  for  the  use  of  the 
common  schools  in  said  town;  and  the  said  Directors, 


THE  AKRON   SCHOOL   LAWS.  281 

so  organized  and  qualified,  and  their  successors  in  office, 
shall  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate  in  law,  by  the 
name  of  "The  Board  of  Education  of  the  town  of 
Akron,"  and,  as  such,  and  by  such  name,  shall  be  au 
thorized  to  receive  all  moneys  accruing  to  said  town,  or 
any  part  thereof,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  com 
mon  schools  in  said  town;  and  the  said  Board  shall  be 
capable  of  contracting  and  being  contracted  with,  suing 
and  being  sued,  pleading  and  being  impleaded,  in  any 
court  of  law  or  equity  in  this  State;  and  shall  also  be 
capable  of  receiving  any  gift,  grant,  donation,  or  devise, 
made  for  the  use  of  the  common  schools  in  said  town; 
and  said  Board,  by  resolution,  shall  direct  the  payment 
of  all  moneys  that  shall  come  into  the  hands  of  said 
Treasurer;  and  no  money  shall  be  paid  out  of  the 
treasury,  except  in  pursuance  of  such  resolution,  and 
on  the  written  order  of  the  President,  countersigned 
by  the  Secretary. 

SEC.  3.  That  said  Board  shall  hold  their  meetings  at  Meetings  Of  the 
such  time  and  place  as  they  may  think  proper;  that  Board- 
any  four  of  said  Board  shall  constitute  a  quorum;  that 
special  meetings  may  be  called  by  the  President,  or  by 
any  two  members  of  the  Board,  on  giving  two  days' 
notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  holding  such  meetings; 
but  at  no  special  meeting,  except  all  the  Directors  be 
present,  shall  any  resolution  in  relation  to  sites  for 
school-houses,  or  financial  resolution,  or  order  be  passed, 
unless  the  two  days'  notice,  as  aforesaid,  be  given,  and 
the  subject  or  subjects  to  be  acted  on,  be  specified  in 
the  notice,  and  a  quorum  of  at  least  four  members  be 
present. 

SEC.  4.  That  said  Board  of  Education  shall  have  the  Shall  have  con- 
entire  management  and  control  of  all  the  common 
schools  in  said  town  of  Akron,  and  of  all  the  houses,  Akron. 
lands,  and  appurtenances  already  provided  and  set  apart 
for  common  school  purposes,  as  well  as  those  hereafter 
to  be  provided  for  the  same  purposes;  and  the  said  town 
of  Akron,  from  and  after  the  first  Tuesday  in  June  next, 
after  the  passage  of  this  act,  shall  constitute,  in  law, 
but  one  school  district;  and  all  moneys  accruing  to  said 
district  for  school  purposes,  under  any  law  of  the  State, 
shall  be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  for  said  Board  of 
Education. 

SEC.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Board  of  Educa-   Number  and 
tion,  so  soon  as  they  may  realize  sufficient  funds  for  the   — adndssTon0^ 
purpose,  to  establish  within  the  bounds  of  the  town   pupils,  etc. 
corporate  of  Akron,  six  or  more  primary  schools,  to  be 
located  in  different  parts  of   the  town,  so  as  best  to 
accommodate  the  inhabitants,  in  which  the  rudiments 


282 


TIIE    AKRON    SCHOOL   LAWS. 


of  an  English  education  shall  be  taught.  It  shall  be 
the  further  duty  of  said  Boafd  to  establish  a  central 
Grammar  school  in  said  town,  where  instruction  shall 
be  given  in  "the  various  studies  and  parts  of  study" 
not  provided  for  in  the  primary  school,  and  yet  requi 
site  to  a  respectable  English  education.  To  each  school 
in  this  system  there  shall  be  gratuitous  admission  for 
the  children,  wards,  and  apprentices  of  all  residents  of 
the  town  corporate  of  Akron,  and  such  other  persons 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  as  may  own  property,  charged 
with  a  school  tax  in  said  town  corporate  of  Akron,  with 
the  following  restrictions,  namely:  No  pupil  shall  be 
admitted  to  the  Grammar  school  who  fails  to  sustain  a 
thorough  examination  in  the  studies  of  the  primary 
school;  and  the  teacher  shall  have  power,  in  either 
school,  with  the  advice  and  direction  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  to  exclude  for  misconduct,  iu  extreme  cases, 
and  to  classify  the  pupils  as  the  best  good  of  the  school 
shall  seem  to  require:  Provided,  however,  that  said 
Board  of  Education  shall  not  make  any  rules  which 
will  exclude  from  said  primary  schools  any  scholar  who, 
by  the  general  laws  of  this  State,  would  be  entitled  to 
admission  into  the  common  schools,  within  said  town, 
and  said  Board  shall  not  so  appropriate  the  school  fund, 
which,  by  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  come  under 
their  control,  as  to  reduce  the  amount  applicable  to  the 
support  of  said  primary  schools,  below  the  sum  to  which, 
under  the  general  laws  of  this  State,  the  common  schools 
within  said  town  would  be  entitled. 

SEC.  6.  The  said  Board  of  Education  shall  have 
power  to  make  and  enforce  all  necessary  rules  and  reg 
ulations  for  the  government  of  teachers  and  pupils  in 
said  schools,  to  employ  teachers,  male  and  female,  and 
pay  them  a  suitable  compensation,  to  purchase  all  neces 
sary  books  and  apparatus,  to  select  sites  for  school- 
houses,  and  superintend  the  building  of  the  same  upon 
their  own  plan,  and  to  pay  for  the  lands,  and  houses, 
and  furniture,  as  well  as  other  expenses  of  said  school 
system,  from  the  public  moneys  in  the  hands  of  the 
Treasurer. 

Town  Council       SEC.  7.  The  said  Board  of  Education,  within  thirty 
to  levy  taxes  for   davg  after  their  organization,  shall  report  to  the  town 

•  chool    our*     /•»  «i      «    »  i  i    i  •      •  i.ii 

Council  of  Akron  the  number  and  description  of  build 
ings  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  the  common  schools 
in  said  town,  which  report  shall  be  in  writing,  and 
shall  specify  the  amount  of  money  necessary  to  be 
raised  to  meet  the  expense  of  erecting  such  buildings; 
and  such  Board  shall  also  specify,  in  said  report .  tho 
amount  of  money  necessary  to  be  raised  in  addition  to 


Power  of  Board. 


•chool 
poies. 


pur 


THE   AKKON   SCHOOL  LAWS.  283 

the  money  accruing  to  said  town  under  the  general 
school  laws  of  the  State,  to  defray  all  the  other  expenses 
of  said  school  system  during  the  current  year;  and 
thereupon  the  said  town  Council  shall  proceed  to  levy 
a  tax  sufficient  to  meet  such  expenses  of  buildings  and 
repairing  school-houses,  and  the  expenses  •  attendant 
upon  the  maintenance  of  said  free  schools  in  Akron, 
during  the  whole  year,  customary  vacations  only  ex- 
cepted;  said  tax  to  be  levied  and  collected  as  other 
taxes  of  said  town  are  or  may  be  collected.  And  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Board,  on  or  before  the  first 
Monday  in  April,  in  every  year  thereafter,  to  make 
report  in  writing  to  the  town  Council,  of  all  moneys 
received,  how  and  for  what  purpose  expended,  with 
the  proper  vouchers,  and  such  other  information  in 
relation  to  said  schools  as  they  may  deem  important, 
specifying  in  said  annual  report  the  amount  of  money 
necessary  to  be  raised  by  taxation,  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  said  school  system  for  the  current  year; 
and  said  town  Council  shall,  annually,  upon  the  com 
ing  in  of  such  report,  and  within  thirty  days  thereafter, 
proceed  to  levy  a  tax  sufficient  to  meet  such  expenses, 
to  be  levied  and  collected  as  other  taxes  of  said  town. 
And  the  town  Council  shall  cause  all  such  reports  of  Reports  of 
the  Board  of  Education  to  be  published,  or  so  much  Board- 
thereof  as  they  may  deem  necessary,  the  reports  them 
selves  to  be  left  with  the  Mayor  of  the  town,  open  to 
public  inspection. 

SEC.  8.  All  legal  titles  to  lands  and  houses,  and  other  Titles  to  Board 
property  used  for  common  school  purposes  in  said  etc< 
town  of  Akron,  shall  vest  in  the  town  Council  of  Ak 
ron  at  the  taking  effect  of  this  act,  and  all  titles 
acquired  thereafter  shall  be  in  the  name  of  said  town 
Council;  and  said  town  Council  shall  have  power  to 
sell,  lease,  and  convey,  any  and  all  of  the  lands  and  ten 
ements  held  under  and  by  virtue  of  this  act,  and  to 
purchase  other  lands  and  tenements  in  more  eligible 
positions,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  said  Board  of  Edu 
cation,  but  not  otherwise. 

SEC.  9.  The  town  Council  shall,  immediately  after  Examiners  of 
the  appointment  of  Directors,  as  hereinbefore  provided, 
appoint  three  competent  persons  to  serve  as  School 
Examiners  of  said  town,  all  of  whom  shall  be  citizens 
of  Akron;  one  to  serve  until  the  first  Tuesday  in  June, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight;  one  until 
the  first  Tuesday  in  June,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-nine;  and  one  until  the  first  Tuesday  in  June, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty,  and  until  their 
successors  are  qualified;  and  annually,  at  the  first 


284 


THE   AKBON   SCHOOL   LAWS. 


regular  meeting  of  the  town  Council,  after  the  annual 
election  for  members  of  that  body,  they  shall  appoint 
one  person  for  Examiner,  to  serve  for  three  years,  and 
until  his  successor  is  qualified;  and  the  Council  shall 
fill  all  vacancies  that  may  occur  by  death,  removal,  or 
otherwise.  The  Examiners,  or  any  two  of  them,  shall 
examine  such  persons  as  may  apply  for  that  purpose; 
and  if  they  find  the  applicant  qualified,  they  shall  give 
him  a  certificate,  naming  the  branches  he  is  qualified 
to  teach,  that  they  have  carefully  inquired  into  his 
character,  and  believe  it  to  be  moral  and  good,  and  that 
they  believe  him  to  be  well  qualified  to  govern  and 
teach;  they  shall,  also,  in  every  case  where  two  of  their 
number  concur,  have  power  to  annul  any  certificate 
previously  given,  and  the  person  holding  the  same 
shall  be  discharged  from  the  public  schools  in  said 
town;*  they  shall,  also,  separately  or  otherwise, 
together  with  such  other  persons  as  may  be  appointed 
by  the  Mayor,  visit  said  schools  at  least  as  often  as 
once  in  every  quarter,  observe  the  discipline,  mode  of 
instruction,  progress  of  the  scholars,  and  such  other 
circumstances  as  they  may  deem  of  interest;  and,  semi- 
annually,  at  such  times  as  the  Board  of  Education 
shall  [appoint,]  they  shall  report  their  proceedings  to 
the  town  Council,  and  also  to  the  Board  of  Education, 
with  such  suggestions  as  they  may  think  proper,  the 
publication  of  which  shall  be  in  the  discretion  of  the 
town  Council. 

SEC.  10.  Annually,  at  such  time  as  the  Board  shall 
ation  of  schools,   appoint,  public  examinations  of  all  the  schools  shall  be 
had,  under  the  direction  of  the  Mayor,   Council,  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  the  Examiners. 

SEC.  11 .  So  much  of  the  general  school  law,  and  so 
much  of  any  and  all  other  laws  of  this  State,  general  or 
local,  as  may  be  inconsistent  with  this  act,  or  any  of  its 
provisions,  is  hereby  repealed  as  to  said  town  of  Akron. 

SEC.  12.  The  power  conferred  upon  the  Board  of 
Education  of  the  town  of  Akron,  in  the  fifth  section  of 
this  act,  is  hereby  conferred  upon  the  Managers  of  the 
common  schools  of  the  city  of  Dayton. 

SEC,  13.  Any  future  Legislature  may  alter,  amend, 
or  repeal  this  act. 

WILLIAM  P.  CUTLER, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
EDSON  B.  OLDS, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


Reports. 


Puhlic    examin- 


R  e  p  e  a 

clause. 


ing 


Extended  to 
Dayton. 


Right  of  repeal. 


Modified:    see  section  3  of  the  act  of  June  28,  1848,  chapter  in.    Tax 
not  to  exceed  four  mills  on  the  dollar:  see  section  1  of  same  act. 


THE   AKRON   SCHOOL  LAWS.  285 


CHAPTER    III. 


An  Act  to  amend  the  act  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  support  and 

better  regulation  of  Common  Schools  in  the  town  of 

Akron,"  passed  February  8,  1847. 

[Passed  January  28,  1848,  XLVI  vol.  Stat.  110.] 

SEC.  1 .  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  the  amount  of  tax  heretofore  to  be  Amount  of  tax. 
assessed  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  school  system, 
introduced  into  said  town  by  virtue  of  the  act  to  which 
this  is  an  amendment,  shall  not  exceed,  in  any  one 
year,  four  mills  on  the  dollar  of  the  taxable  property 
in  said  town. 

SEC.  2.  The  Board  of  Education  of  the  town  of  Ak-  Powers  of  the 
ron  shall  have  full  power  and  authority  to  determine  Stlon.  °f 
what  branches  of  education  shall  be  taught  in  any  and 
all  of  said  schools  under  their  management  and  con 
trol;  and  said  Board  shall  also  have  power,  at  their  dis 
cretion,  to  restrict  the  right  of  admission  into  any  and 
all  of  said  schools,  to  the  children,  wards,  and  appren 
tices  of  actual  residents,  within  the  limits  of  the  town 
corporate  of  Akron,  with  power  to  admit  scholars  from 
abroad,  upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as  said  Board 
shall  see  nt  to  prescribe. 

SEC.  3.  That  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  of  June,  Duties  of  AU- 
in  each  year,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  Board  of  j|^J.r  and  Treas' 
Education  to  make  known  to  the  Auditor  of  the  county 
of  Summit,  the  amount  of  tax  which  they  may  want 
levied  for  school  purposes  during  the  current  year; 
and  thereupon  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  county 
Auditor  to  assess  the  taxable  property  in  said  town  of 
Akron,  as  the  same  appears  upon  the  grand  list;  and 
the  said  tax  shall  be  collected  by  the  county  Treasurer 
at  the  same  time  with  the  State  and  county  taxes,  and 
in  the  same  manner;  and,  when  collected,  the  amount 
shall  be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  said  Board  of 
Education. 

SEC.  4.  That  so  much  of  the  act  to  which  this  is  an 


236 


THE    AKRON    SCHOOL   LAWS. 

1 1  n  g   amendment  as  conflicts  with  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed. 

JOSEPH  S.  HAWKINS, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
CHARLES  B.  GODDARD, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


An  Act    to  provide   for  extending  the  provisions  of  an  act 

entitled  "An  Act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation 

of  Common  Schools  in  the  town  of  Akron," 

and  the  amendatory  acts  thereto,  to 

the  cities  and  incorporated 

towns  of  this  State. 

[Patsed  February  14,  1848,  XLV1  vol.  Stat.  48.] 

AH  incorporat-  SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  t/ie  General  Assembly  of  the 
organiisen9un<ier  State  of  Ohio,  That  every  incorporated  town  or  city  in 
preceding  acta,  this  State,  shall  have  the  provisions  of  the  act  entitled 
"an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of  com 
mon  schools  in  the  town  of  Akron,"  and  the  amenda 
tory  act  thereto,  passed  by  the  forty-sixth  General 
Assembly  of  this  State,  extended  to  all  or  any  of  the 
said  incorporated  towns  or  cities,  wherever  two-thirds 
of  the  qualified  voters  thereof  shall  petition  the  town  or 
city  Council  in  favor  of  having  the  provisions  of  said 
acts  so  extended. 

Election  of  Di-  SEC.  2.  That  whenever  two-thirds  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  any  city  or  incorporated  town  shall  petition 
the  town  or  city  Council  in  favor  of  having  the  pro 
visions  of  said  acts  extended  to  said  city  or  incor 
porated  town,  the  electors  qualified  to  vote  for  members 
of  the  town  or  city  Council,  shall  assemble  at  the 
time  and  place  within  said  town  or  city,  of  which  at 
least  ten  days'  previous  notice  shall  be  given  by  the 
city  or  town  Council,  by  posting  written  or  printed 
notices  in  at  least  three  of  the  most  public  places  in 
said  city  or  incorporated  town,  and  then  and  there 
proceed  to  the  election  of  six  Directors,  by  ballot,  who 


THE   AKRON   SCHOOL  LAWS.  287 

shall  serve,  and  in  all  respects  be  governed  by  the  pro 
visions  of  the  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  support  and 
better  regulation  of  common  schools  in  the  town  of 
Akron,"  and  the  act  amendatory  thereto;  and  the  com 
mon  schools  in  said  city  or  incorporated  town  shall,  in 
all  respects,  be  governed  and  organized  according  to 
the  provisions  of  said  acts. 

SEC.  3.  That  the  last  preceding  election  in  said  city  HOW  number  of 
or  incorporated  town,  shall  be  the  basis  upon  which  to  J^"8  ascer" 
determine  the  number  of  qualified  voters. 

SEC.  4.  That  all  acts,  or  parts  thereof,  inconsistent  Repealing 
with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  are  hereby  repealed:    clause. 
Provided,  that  this  act  shall  not  extend  to,  nor  be  in 
force  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati. 

JOSEPH  S.  HAWKINS, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
CHARLES  B.  GODDARD, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


CHAPTER  V. 


An  Act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  for  the  support  and 

better  regulation  of  Common  Schools  in  the  town 

of  Akron,"  passed  February  8,  1847,  and 

the  acts  amendatory  thereto. 

[Passed  March  15,  1849,  XLVII  toZ.  Stat.  45.J 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Boards  of  Edu- 
State  of  Ohio,    That  the  Board  of  Education  in  any  c» u on 
city,  town,  or  village,  which  has  adopted  the  act  enti-   ?awt.P 
tied  "an  act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of 
common  schools  in  the  town  of  Akron,"  passed  Febru 
ary  8,   1847,  and   the   acts  amendatory  thereto,  may 
adopt  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  fifteenth  sections  of  the 
act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  better  organization  of  the 
public  schools  in  cities,  towns,"  etc.,  passed  February 
15,  1849,  whenever,  in  the  opinion  of  said  Board  of 
Education,  the  educational  interests  of  such  city,  town, 
or  village,  may  require  it. 


288  ACT  FOR  SCHOOLS  IN  CITIES,  TOWNS,  ETC. 

SEC.  2.  All  acts,  or  parts  thereof,  inconsistent  with 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  are  hereby  repealed. 

JOHN  G.  BRESLIN, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
BREWSTER  RANDALL, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


GENERAL   ACT    FOR    SCHOOLS    IN    CITIES, 
TOWNS,   ETC. 


Towns  of  200  in- 
habitants  may 
be  single  school 
districts. 


Qualified  voters 
to  vote  for  or 
against  the 
adoption  of  this 
act. 


An  Act  for  the  better  regulation  of  tho  Public  Schools  in 
cities,  towns,  etc. 

[Patted  February  21,  1849,  XLVH  vol.  Stat.  22.] 

SEC.  1 .  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  any  incorporated  city  or  town  in 
this  State,  or  any  incorporated  town  or  village,  except 
such  city,  town,  or  village,  as  is  now,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  governed  as  to  schools  by  some  special  law  hereto 
fore  passed,  containing  within  the  town  or  village  plot, 
as  laid  out  and  recorded,  two  hundred  inhabitants  or 
more,  with  the  territory  attached,  or  hereafter  to  bo 
attached  to  said  city,  town,  or  village,  for  school  pur 
poses,  may  be  organized  into  and  established  as  a 
single  school  district,  in  the  manner  and  with  the 
powers  hereinafter  specified;  but  the  provisions  of  this 
act  shall  not  apply  to  any  city,  town,  or  village,  or  any 
part  thereof,  which  is  now  governed  as  to  schools  by 
any  special  law. 

SEC.  2.  That,  in  order  to  such  organization,  written 
n«'ti'-«'S  shall  be  posted  up  in  three  or  more  of  the  most 
public  places  in  said  contemplated  district,  signed  at 
least  by  six  resident  freeholders  of  the  same,  req not 
ing  the  qualified  electors  in  said  district  to  ass<-mbl«i 
upon  a  day,  and  at  some  suitable  place  in  said  district, 
to  be  named  in  said  notices,  then  and  there  to  vote,  by 
ballot,  for  or  against  the  adoption  of  this  act,  which 


ACT  FOR  SCHOOLS  IN  CITIES,  TOWNS,  ETC. 


2S9 


Manner  of  cast 
ing  such  vote. 


notice  shall  be  so  posted  up  at  least  ten  days  next  prior 
to  said  meeting. 

SEC.  3.  That  the  electors  assembled  at  said  time  and 
place  shall  proceed  to  appoint  a  Chairman,  Assistant 
Chairman,  and  Clerk,  who  shall  be  Judges  of  said 
election.  That  the  electors  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of 
this  act  for  said  district,  shall  write  upon  their  ballots, 
"School  law,"  and  those  opposed  thereto  shall  write 
upon  their  ballots,  "  No  school  law;"  the  adoption  or 
rejection  of  this  act  to  be  determined  by  a  majority  of 
the  votes  to  be  cast  in  manner  aforesaid. 

SEC.  4.  That  in  case  a  majority  of  votes  shall  have  Directors  to  be 
been  cast  for  said  law,  the  electors  of  said  districts  shall  chosen- 
assemble  at  the  place  last  aforesaid,  within  twenty  days 
from  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  said  act,  of  which  at 
least  ten  days'  previous  notice  shall  be  given  by  said 
Chairman  and  Clerk,  in  the  manner  aforesaid,  and  shall 
then  choose,  by  ballot,  six  Directors  of  the  public 
schools  of  said  district,  two  of  whom  shall  serve  for 
one  year,  two  for  two  years,  and  two  for  three  years, 
the  time  that  each  shall  serve  to  be  designated  on  the 
ballots;  and  annually  thereafter,  there  shall  be  chosen, 
in  the  same  manner,  two  Directors,  each  of  whom 
shall  serve  for  three  years,  and  until  their  successors 
shall  be  elected  and  qualified;  such  intermediate  vacan 
cies  as  may  occur  to  be  filled  by  the  acting  Directors 
until  the  next  annual  election,  when  such  vacancies 
shall  be  filled  by  the  electors. 

SEC.  5.   That  said  Directors,  within  ten  days  after  Directors  to  or- 
their  appointment  as  aforesaid,  shall  meet,  and  organize  samze- 
by  choosing  from  their  number  a  President,  Secretary, 
and  Treasurer;   that  said  Treasurer,  before  he  enters 
upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  shall  give  bond  payable  to 
the  State  of  Ohio,  with  security,  to  be  approved  by  said 
Board,  and  to  be  by  them   kept,  conditioned  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  duties  as  such  Treasurer. 

SEC.  6.  The  said  Directors,  and  their  successors  in  Their  powerg 
office,  shall  be  a  body  corporate,  by  the  name  of  the  and  duties. 
Board  of  Education  of  said  city,  town,  or  village,  and, 
as  such,  and  by  such  name,  shall  receive  all  moneys, 
and  other  property,  belonging  or  accruing  to  said 
district,  or  to  said  city,  town,  or  village,  or  any  part  of 
the  same,  for  the  use  or  benefit  of  the  public  schools 
therein;  and  the  said  Board  shall  be  capable  of  con 
tracting  and  being  contracted  with,  suing  and  being 
sued,  pleading  and  being  impleaded,  in  any  court  of 
law  or  equity;  and  also  shall  be  capable  of  receiving 
any  gift,  grant,  bequest,  or  devise,  made  for  the  use  of 
the  public  schools  in  said  city,  town,  or  district,  and 

19 


290  ACT  FOB  SCHOOLS  IN  CITIES,  TOWNS,  ETC. 

all  moneys  accruing  to  said  city,  town,  or  district, 
for  school  purposes,  under  any  law  of  this  Siat«>, 
shall  be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  said  Board  of 
Education. 

SEC.  7.    Said  Board  of  Education  may  hold  stated 

Meetings  01  tne  .  .  .•'..,.. 

Board.  meetings  at  such  times  and  places  in  said  district  as 

they  may  appoint,  four  members  of  said  Board,  at 
all  meetings  thereof,  constituting  a  quorum  for  busi 
ness;  that  special  meetings  thereof  may  be  called  by 
the  President,  or  by  any  two  members,  on  giving  one 
day's  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  the  same;  and 

Money,  how  said  Board,  by  resolution,  shall  direct  the  payment  of 
all  moneys  that  shall  come  into  the  hands  of  the  Treas 
urer,  and  no  money  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury 
except  in  pursuance  of  such  resolution,  and  on  the 
written  order  of  the  President,  countersigned  by  the 
Secretary. 

SEC.  8.   That  whenever   said    Board    shall   deem    it 

School-nouses,  t  .       .  . 

how  built.  necessary  to  purchase  or  erect  a  school-house,  or  school- 

houses  for  said  district,  or  to  purchase  sites  for  the 
same,  they  shall  call  a  meeting  of  the  legal  voters  in 
said  district,  by  giving  at  least  ten  days'  notice  of  the 
time,  and  place,  and  object  of  said  meeting,  in  some 
newspaper  printed  in,  and  in  general  circulation  in  such 
district,  if  any  such  there  be;  and  if  there  be  no  such 
newspaper,  then  by  posting  up  written  or  printed  notices 
thereof,  at  five  or  more  of  the  most  public  places  in 
said  district,  and  the  President  of  said  Board,  and  in 
his  absence  one  of  the  other  Directors,  shall  act  as 
Chairman  of  said  meeting,  and  said  meeting  may  de 
termine,  by  a  majority  vote,  upon  the  erection  of  a 
school-house  or  school-houses,  and  the  purchase  of  a 
site  or  sites  therefor,  and  the  amount  of  money  to  be 
raised  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  and  the  time,  or  times 
when  the  same  shall  be  paid,  which  money,  so  voted, 
shall  be  thereupon  certified  by  the  Board  of  Education, 
by  its  Chairman  and  Secretary,  to  the  Auditor  of  the 
county,  and  shall  be  assessed  in  said  district,  collected 
and  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  said  district,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  tax  hereinafter  provided  for  in  the 
twelfth  section  of  this  act. 

Board  to  estab-          ^EC.  ^'    ^l   S^ia^    ^6  tne  ^Uty  °^  Sa^   Board,  SO   SOOn 

hah  primary  as  the  means  for  that  purpose  can  be  provided,  to  estab 
lish  in  said  district  an  adequate  number  of  primary 
schools;  to  be  so  located  as  best  to  accommodate  the 
inhabitants  thereof,  and  in  which  the  rudiments  of  edu 
cation  shall  be  taught,  and  it  shall  be  the  further  duty 
of  said  Board,  to  establish  in  said  district,  a  suitable 


ACT   FOR    SCHOOLS   IN    CITIES,  TOWNS,    ETC.  291 

number  of  other  schools  of  a  higher  grade  or  grades,     nigh  schools, 
wherein  instruction  shall  be  given  in  such  studies  as 
may  not  be  provided  for  in   the  primary  schools,  the 
number  of   schools,  and  also  of   the  different  grades 
thereof,  to  be  determined  by  said  Board;  and  it  shall 
be   the    further  duty  of  said    Board   to  decide   what 
branches  shall  be  taught  in  each  and  all  of  said  schools,    Branches  to  be 
provided  that  no  other  language  than  the  English  or  taught. 
German  shall  be  taught  therein,  except  with  the  con 
currence  of  two-thirds  of  said  Board. 

SEC.  10.  Admission  to  said  schools  shall  be  gratui-   What    scholars 
tous  to  the  children,  wards  and  apprentices  of  all  actual  admitted, 
residents  in  said  district,  who  may  be  entitled  to  the 
privileges  of  the  public  schools,  under  the  general  laws 
of  this  State,  provided  that  said  Board  shall  have  power 
to  admit  to  said  schools  other  pupils,  upon  such  terms, 
or  upon  the  payment  of  such  tuition,  as  they  may  pre 
scribe. 

SEC.  11.  Said  Board  shall  have  power  to  make  all  General  powers 
necessary  regulations  for  said  schools,  to  prescribe  and  of  the  Board- 
enforce  rules  for  the  admission  of  pupils  into  the  same, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  preceding  section,  and  the 
examination  that  pupils  must  pass  preparatory  to  admis 
sion  into  the  schools  of  higher  grades  than  the  primary; 
to  subdivide  said  school  district,  if  they  shall  think 
proper;  to  select  sites  for  school -houses;  to  superintend 
the  building  of  the  same,  and  to  pay  therefor,  their 
appurtenances,  furniture,  and  apparatus,  to  borrow 
money  for  the  erection  of  school-houses,  upon  a  major 
ity  vote  of  said  district  therefor,  and  to  incur  all  other 
expenses  of  said  school  system,  and  pay  the  same  from 
the  public  moneys  of  said  district. 

SEC.  12.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Board  to  keep  How       lon 
said  schools  in  operation  not  less  than  thirty-six,  nor  schools    to    be 
more  than  forty-four  weeks  of  each  year,  to  determine  J|;jja  in    each 
the  amount  of  the  annual  tax  to  be  raised  for  the  pur 
pose  aforesaid,  including  all  the  necessary  expenses  of 
said  schools,  except  for  the  erection  of  school-houses 
and  the  purchase  of  sites;  and  on  or  before  the  first 
day  of  July,  of  each  year,  to  make  known  the  amount 
of  such  tax  to  the  Auditor  of  the  county  in  which  said 
district  is  situate;  and  thereupon  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
said  Auditor  to  assess  the  same  upon  the  taxable  prop-   school  tax,  how 
erty  of  the   said  district  as  the .  same  appears  on   the   levied  ••*••«• 

j   i-    .    •      i  •        m  ji  .,          rr,     •,•,    i  -,       lected. 

grand  list  m  his  omce,  and  the  said  tax  shall  be  col 
lected  by  the  county  Treasurer,  in  the  same  manner, 
and  at  the  same  time,  with  the  State  and  county  taxes, 
and  when  collected  shall  be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer 


292 


ACT    FOR    SCHOOLS    IN   CITIES.    TOWNS,    ETC. 


Not  to  exceed 
four  mills  on  the 
dollar. 


Board  shall  re 
port  to  annual 
meeting. 


Ityard  shall  ap 
point  School 
Examiners. 


of  said  Board:  *  Provided,  however,  that  the  tax 
to  be  assessed  under  this  section  shall  not  exceed  four 
mills  on  the  dollar  upon  the  taxable  property  of  said 
district,  as  the  same  appears  upon  the  grand  list;  pro 
vided  further,  that  in  case  the  amount  so  authorized  to 
be  raised,  together  with  the  other  school  moneys  of 
said  district,  shall  be  insufficient  to  support  said  schools 
for  the  portion  of  the  year  mentioned  in  this  section, 
that  said  Board  of  Education  may  require  such  sum  as 
may  be  necessary  to  support  the  same  for  the  residue  of 
said  time,  to  be  charged  at  the  discretion  of  said  Board 
upon  the  tuition  of  the  pupils  attending  such  schools; 
Provided,  however,  that  the  children  of  indigent 
parents,  or  orphans,  who  are  unable  to  pay  such 
charges,  shall  not  be  excluded  from  said  schools  for  the 
non-payment  of  the  same;  and  it  shall  be  the  further 
duty  of  said  Board  to  keep  an  accurate  account  of  their 
proceeding,  and.  of  their  receipts  and  disbursements 
for  school  purposes,  and  at  the  annual  meeting  for  the 
choice  of  Directors  in  said  district  to  make  report  of 
such  receipts,  and  the  sources  from  which  the  same 
were  derived,  and  of  said  disbursements,  and  the  objects 
to  which  the  same  were  applied,  and  they  shall  also 
make  report  at  the  same  time  of  such  other  matters 
relating  to  said  schools,  as  they  may  deem  the  interests 
of  the  same  to  require. 

SEC.  13.  That  said  Board  of  Education,  within 
twenty  days  after  their  election,  shall  appoint  three 
competent  persons,  citizens  of  said  district,  to  serve  as 
School  Examiners  of  the  public  schools  therein,  one  to 
serve  for  one  year,  one  for  two  years,  and  one  for  three 
years  from  the  time  of  their  appointment,  and  until 
their  successors  shall  be  appointed,  and  annually  there 
after  said  Board  shall  appoint  one  Examiner  to  serve  for 
three  years,  and  until  his  successor  is  appointed  and 
qualified;  and  said  Board  shall  fill  all  vacancies  that 
may  occur  from  death,  removal,  or  otherwise.  Said 


*  The  following  law  is  probably  still  in  force: 

An  Act  to  regulate  the  fee*  of  county  Treasurers  in  certain  cue*. 
[Patted  December  21.  1852.  LI  rol.  Slat.  28A.] 

TrfMnrors  to  col-         ?*<"•  !•  Be  it  eitartnt  by  the   Orneral  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
lert    school    taxes    That  the  county  Treasurers  of  this  State  shall  be  allowed,  for  collecting 
undor  certain  acti.     and  paying  over  school  taxes  assessed  under  the  act  of  February  91, 
1649,  and  an   act  amendatory  thereto,  passed    March  13,  1H50,  for  the 
better  regulation  of  common  schools  in  cities  and  towns,  ilicMim  of  one 
per  cent,  on  all  moneys  by  them  collected  and  paid  over  under  the  pro 
visions  of  said  act*. 

JAMES  C.  JOHNSON, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representative*. 

\VM.I.IAV  MKDILI., 
President  of  the  Stnate. 


ACT   FOR   SCHOOLS   IN   CITIES,    TOWNS,    ETC. 


293 


Examiners,  or  any  two  of  them,  shall  examine  any  per-  Duty  of  Exam 
son  that  may  apply  for  that  purpose,  with  the  intention  iner8' 
of  becoming  teachers  in  any  of  the  schools  in  said 
district;  and  if  they  find  the  applicant,  in  their  opinion, 
qualified  to  teach  in  any  of  said  schools,  and  to  govern 
the  same,  and  of  good  moral  character,  they  shall  give 
said  applicant  a  certificate  naming  the  branches  in 
which  the  holder  of  said  certificate  was  found  qualified 
to  teach — and  no  person  shall  be  permitted  to  teach  in 
said  schools  without  such  certificate — and  said  Exam 
iners  may,  in  all  cases  where  two  of  their  number  con 
cur,  have  power  to  annul  such  certificate,  and,  when 
so  annulled,  the  person  holding  the  same  shall  be 
discharged  as  a  teacher  of  said  schools;  said  Examin 
ers  shall  also,  separately  or  otherwise,  together  with 
said  Board  of  Education,  or  any  of  them,  or  such 
person  as  they  may  appoint,  or  invite,  visit  said  schools 
as  often  as  once  in  every  term,  and  observe  the  disci 
pline,  mode  of  teaching,  progress  of  the  pupils,  and  such 
other  matters  as  they  may  deem  of  interest,  and  make 
such  suggestions,  and  report  thereupon  to  said  Board, 
as  they  may  think  proper,  which  report  may  be  pub 
lished  at  the  discretion  of  said  Board. 

SEC.  14.  Upon  the  adoption  of  this  act  in  the  manner  Acta  repeaied 
herein  provided,  by  any  city,  town,  village,  or  district, 
all  laws  now  in  force  therein,  inconsistent  herewith,  are 
hereby  repealed. 

SEC.  15.  That  said  Board  of  Education,  or  the 
Treasurer  thereof,  shall  have  power  to  collect  any 
charge  or  account  for  tuition,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  Treasurer  of  any  common  school  district  in  this 
State,  is  now,  or  may  hereafter  be,  authorized  to  collect 
any  such  charge  or  account. 

JOHN  G.  BRESLIN, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
BREWSTER  RANDALL, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


Treasurer  may 
collect  charges 
for  tuition. 


204 


ACT   FOR   SCHOOLS    IN    CITIES,    TOWNS,    ETC. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


An  Act  to  amend  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the 
organization,  of  cities  and  incorporated  villages," 
passed   May  3,  Ib52. 

[Passed  March  11,  1853,  LI  vol.  Stat.  364  ] 


authorized. 


poses. 


^EC'  ^'  ^&^  ^ie  ninety-eighth  section  of  said  act 
be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  so  amended  as  to  read  as 
follows:  That  the  Council  of  any  municipal  corporation 
shall  not  authorize  any  loan  or  appropriation  not  predi 
cated  on  the  revenues  of  the  corporation  for  the  current 
fiscal  year,  and  shall  not  authorize  any  order  or  appro 
priation  of  money,  when  there  is  not,  in  the  city  treas 
ury,  money  unappropriated  sufficient  to  pay  such 
appropriation;  and  any  appropriation  otherwise  made 
or  authorized,  shall  be  held  and  deemed  utterly  void 
and  of  no  effect  as  against  said  corporation:  Provided, 
however,  that  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  necessary 

Council  may  .  .  •     i  i          \       i   i      -u  c        \ 

borrow  money  grounds,  and  erecting  suitable  school  buildings  tor  the 
f°rCh°01  pur"  use  °f  Public  schools,  the  Council  of  any  such  corpo 
ration  may,  at  the  request  of  the  Board  of  Education 
of  said  corporation,  make  sufficient  appropriation  there 
for,  and  shall  have  power  to  borrow  money  upon  the 
credit  of  such  corporation,  sufficient  for  the  aforesaid 
purposes,  at  such  rates  of  interest  as  said  Council 
may  deem  proper;  and,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting 
such  loan,  the  said  Council  shall  have  power  to  pledge 
the  faith  of  said  corporation  for  the  payment  of  both 
principal  and  interest,  including  the  power  to  levy  a 
tax  for  the  payment  of  the  same,  whenever  the  same 
may  become  due,  and  to  make  and  execute  such  bonds, 
or  other  evidences  of  debt,  and  payable  at  such  times 
and  places  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  parties  so 
contracting,  which  said  bonds,  or  other  evidences  of 
debt,  may  be  made  transferable  and  redeemable  in  such 
form,  and  at  such  times  and  places,  as  may  be  therein 
designated;  and  the  necessary  grounds  shall  be  pro 
cured,  and  the  said  school  buildings  hereby  authorize  1 


Loan    how  per 
fected. 


ACT   FOB   SCHOOLS  IN  CITIES,    TOWNS,    ETC.  295 


shall  be  constructed  under  the   direction  of,   and  in   School 
accordance  with,  a  plan,   or  plans,   furnished  by  the   inf8'  how  con* 
Board  of  Education  of  said  corporation.       *       *       *   8 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


An  Act  to  amend  the  "  Act  for  the  better  regulation  of  the 

Public  Schools  in  cities,  towns,  etc.,"  passed 

February  21,  1849. 

[Passed  March  13,  1850,  XL VIII  vol.  Stat.  40.] 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Extendingactin 
State  of   Ohio,   That  the  act  for  the  better  regulation   reference  to  pub- 
of   the  public   schools  in    cities,   towns,   etc.,  passed  1J 
February  .21,  1849,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  extended 
to  incorporated  townships,  and  to  school  districts,  now 
or  hereafter  to  be  organized,  which  shall  adopt  the  same 
in  the  manner  specified  ^n  the  second  arid  third  sections 
of  said  act:  Provided,  however,  that  said  act  shall  not 
be  so  extended  to  any  township  or  school  district,  con 
taining  less  than  five  hundred  inhabitants,  unless  said 
school  district  consists,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  an  incor 
porated  town  or  village. 

SEO.  2.  Township  and  school  districts  to  which  said   single  school 
act  may  be  extended  in  the  manner  aforesaid,  shall  districts. 
thereafter  be  known  and  recognized  in  law  as  single 
school  districts,  with  all  the  powers,  rights,  and  fran 
chises  which,  for  educational  purposes,  are,  or  may  be 
conferred  upon  incorporated  cities,  towns,  and  villages, 
in  virtue  of  the  act  aforesaid;  and  the  Board  of  Educa-   Board  of  Educa 
tion  of  such  townships  and  school  districts,  shall  be 
elected  and  organized  in  the  same  manner  as  is  provided 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  sections  of  said  act,  and  shall 
have  like  powers,  rights,  and  privileges,  and  perform 
like  duties  as  Boards  of  Education  of  cities,  towns,  etc., 
under  the  act  aforesaid. 

SEC.  3.   The  title  to  all  real  estate,  and  other  property   Title  to  real  es- 
belonging,  for  school  purposes,  to  any  city,  town,  village,    tate  to  vest  in 
township,  or  district,  or  to  any  part  of  the  same,  which 
is  or  may  be  organized  into  a  single  school  district,  in 


AMENDMENTS  OF  THE  GENEKAL  SCHOOL  ACT. 

accordance  with  this  act,  or  the  act  to  which  this  is  an 
amendment,  shall  be  regarded  in  law  as  vested  in  the 
Board  of  Education  thereof,  for  the  support  and  use  of 
the  public  schools  therein,  and  said  Board  may  dispose 
of,  sell,  and  convey  said  real  estate,  or  any  part  of  the 
same,  by  deed,  to  be  executed  by  the  President  of  said 
Board,  upon  a  majority  vote  for  such  sale  at  any  regu 
lar  meeting  of  the  Electors  of  said  district. 

SEC.  4.  The  Board  of  Education  of  any  city,  town, 
cTuVe' children  village,  township,  or  school  district,  organized  for  the 
support  of  schools  under  this  act,  or  the  act  to  which 
this  is  amendatory,  or  the  act  for  the  support  and  better 
regulation  of  common  schools  in  the  town  of  Akron, 
and  the  acts  amendatory  thereto,  or  under  any  special 
local  act,  shall  have  authority  to  exclude  from  the  pub 
lic  schools,  in  such  city,  etc.,  all  children  under  the 
age  of  six  years. 

BENJAMIN  F.  LETTER, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
CHARLES  C.  CONVERS, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


Board  to  have 

power  to  ex- 


under  six 
of  age. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

AMENDMENTS   OF   THE    GENERAL   SCHOOL 
ACT  OF   1853. 


An  Act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  or 
ganization,  supervision,  and  maintenance  of  Common 
Schools,"  passed  March  14,  1853. 

[Patted  March  1,  1854,  LII  vol.  Stat.  110.] 


SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Tax  leyied  for   State  of  Ohio,   That  section  sixty-three  of  the  act  en- 

•chooi  purposes    titled,  "an  act  to  provide  for  the  re-organization,  super 
s'  Bills  on  the       ..'  ,.r  ..  i        i     ,          *       « 

dollar  valuation  vision,  and  maintenance  of  common  schools,  passed 
March  14,  1853,  be,  and  hereby  is  so  amended  as  to 
read  as  follows:  Section  63.  For  the  purpose  of  alibi-d 
ing  the  advantages  of  a  free  education  to  all  the  youth 
of  this  State,  the  Slate  common  school  fund  shall  here- 


AMENDMENTS  OF  GENERAL  SCHOOL  ACT.  297 

after  consist  of  such  sum  as  will  be  produced  by  the 
annual  levy  and  assessment  qf  one  and  one-half  mills  on 
the  dollar  valuation,  on  the  grand  list  of  the  taxable 
property  of  the  State;  and  there  is  hereby  levied  and 
assessed  annually,  in  addition  to  the  revenues  required 
for  general  purposes,  the  said  one  and  one-half  mills 
upon  the  dollar  valuation  as  aforesaid,  and  the  amount 
so  levied  and  assessed,  shall  be  collected  in  the  same 
manner  as  other  State  taxes;  and  when  collected,  shall 
be  annually  distributed  to  the  several  counties  of  the 
State,  in  proportion  to  the  enumeration  of  scholars, 
and  be  applied  exclusively  to  the  support  of  common 
schools. 

SEC.  2.  That  section  sixty-three  of  the  act  to  which   Section  repealed, 
this  is  amendatory,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed. 

F.  C.  LEBLOND, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

ROBERT  LEE, 
President  of  the  Senate,  pro  tern. 


CHAPTER    X. 


An  Act  to  provide  for  the  completion  of  certain  contracts  here 
tofore  made  by  School  Directors. 

[Passed  February  6,  1854,  LII  vol.  Stat.  17.] 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  TO  empower 
State  of  Ohio,  That  in  all  cases  where  pursuant  to  BoaVd3n  08f  hEdu- 
law,  contracts  have  been  made  or  entered  into  for  the  cation  to  com- 
sale  of  school-house  sites  or  lands,  the  property  of  '61 

any  school  district  heretofore  existing  in  this  State, 
and  the  sale  remains  to  be  perfected  by  conveyance, 
the  township  Board  of  Education,  in  the  township 
where  such  property  may  be  situate,  shall  be  author 
ized  to  complete  the  same  by  executing  a  conveyance 
in  the  manner  prescribed  in  section  eleven  of  the  act 
entitled  an  act  to  provided  for  the  re-organization, 
supervision,  and  maintenance  of  common  schools, 


298  AMENDMENTS    OF   GENERAL   SCHOOL   ACT. 

passed  March  14,  1853,  on  full  compliance  therewith 
by  the  purchaser  or  purchasers. 

F.    C.    LzBLOND, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

ROBERT  J.  ATKINSON, 
President  of  the  Senate,  pro  tern. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


Preamble. 


Transfers  made 
valid. 


An  Act  relating  to  Common  Schools 
[Passed  April  10,  1856,  LVIII    vol.  Stat.  —.] 

WHEREAS,  certain  Boards  of  Education,  organized 
under  an  act  for  the  better  regulation  of  public  schools 
in  cities,  towns,  etc,  passed  February  21,  1849;  and 
certain  Boards  of  Education  organized  under  an  act 
to  provide  for  the  reorganization,  supervision  and 
maintenance  of  common  schools,  passed  March  14, 
1853,  acting  under  said  acts  have  by  agreement  be 
tween  said  Boards,  under  the  act  passed  February  21, 
1849,  and  the  Boards,  under  the  act  passed  March  14, 
1853,  made  annexations  and  transfers  of  territory  to 
and  from  the  districts  provided  for  in  said  acts  respect 
ively  for  the  promotion  of  education,  according  to  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  said  acts;  and  whereas, 
doubts  exist  as  to  the  legality  of  such  annexations  and 
transfers  of  territory,  therefore, 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  all  annexations  or  transfers  of  ter 
ritory  to  or  from  the  districts  provided  for  in  the  said 
act  passed  February  21,  1849,  and  in  the  said  act 
passed  March  14,  1853,  made  pursuant  to  said  acts 
respectively,  and  the  agreement  of  the  Boards  of  Edu 
cation  organized  under  said  acts  respectively,  hereto 
fore  made  or  agreed  upon,  or  which  shall  hereafter  be 
thus  made  or  agreed  upon,  shall  be  held  to  be  as  valid 
as  if  the  same  had  been  specially  and  more  particularly 
provided  for  in  said  acts,  or  the  acts  amendatory  thereto. 

SEC.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Boards  of 
Education  of  any  city,  or  incorporated  village,  or  union 
school  district  created  by  any  law  of  this  State,  shall 


AMENDMENTS  OF  GENERAL  SCHOOL  ACT. 

have  power  according  to  the  general  provisions  of  said 
act  passed  March  14,  1853  by  mutual  agreement  be 
tween  the  township  Board  and  the  city  or  village 
Board  to  transfer  territory  to  or  from  the  respective 
districts  under  the  control  of  said  respective  Boards. 
SEC.  3.  That  this  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and 
after  its  passage. 

N.  H.  VAN  VORHES, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
THOMAS  H.  FORD, 

President  of  the  Senate. 


299 


CHAPTER    XII. 


An  Act  providing  for  recording,  printing,  and  distributing  the 

Journals  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the 

laws  and  public  documents. 

[Passed  April  8,  1856,  LIII  vol.  Stat.  —.] 


SEC.  6.  All  county,  township,  city  and  village  offi-  when  official 
cers,  and  all  officers  and  Boards  of  officers,  of  all  State  ™P°£8  to  be 
institutions  and  buildings,  and  all  officers  connected 
with  the  public  works  of  the  State,  and  all  corporations 
(except  such  as  by  their  characters  are  required  to 
make  their  reports  at  some  other  specified  time)  which 
are  now,  or  may  hereafter  be  required  by  law,  to 
make  annual  reports  for  any  purpose  to  any  State  officer 
or  officers,  shall  make  out  the  same  on  or  before  the 
fifth  day  of  November  of  each  year,  and  forthwith 
transmit  the  same  to  the  proper  officer  or  officers.  For 
the  purpose  of  making  out  all  such  reports  as  come 
within  the  provisions  of  this  section,  the  year  shall 
begin  on  the  first  day  of  November  of  each  year,  and 
end  on  the  last  day  of  October  of  the  succeeding  year: 
Provided,  that  the  school  year  shall  begin  on  the  first  School  year. 
day  of  September  annually,  and  close  on  the  last  day 
of  the  following  August;  and  all  school  officers  and 
township  officers  acting  as  such,  who  are  or  may  be 
required  to  make  annual  reports  to  the  county  Auditor; 


300 

shall  make  out  the  same  and  transmit  them  to  the 
county  Auditor  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  October 
following  the  expiration  of  the  school  year. 

Reports  of  state  SEC.  7.  All  State  officers,  and  Boards  of  officers,  and 
the  officers  of  all  such  institutions  and  buildings,  as  are 
now,  or  may  hereafter  be  required  to  make  annual  re 
ports  to  the  General  Assembly,  or  to  the  Governor,  shall 
hereafter  make  such  reports  to  the  Governor  on  or 
before  the  twenthieth  day  of  November  of  each  year, 
and  the  Governor  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  printed 
as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable,  by  the  printer  having 
the  contract  for  this  branch  of  the  public  printing,  and 
the  Governor  shall  lay  before  the  General  Assembly  all 
such  reports,  in  printed  form,  at  the  same  time  that  he 
lays  before  it  his  regular  message.  But  nothing  in  this 
section,  or  in  this  act,  shall  be  held  to  modify,  in  any 
respect,  the  existing  laws  in  relation  to  the  annual 
report  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
TEACHERS'    INSTITUTES. 

An  Act  to  encourage  Teachers'  Institutes. 
[Passed  February  8,  1847,  XLV  vol.  Stat.  67.] 

Preamble.  WHEREAS,   it  is  represented  that,  in  several  coun 

ties,  associations  of  teachers  of  common  schools,  called 
Teachers'  Institutes,  have  been  formed,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  mutual  improvement  and  advancement  in  their 
profession,  which,  it  is  represented,  have  already  ac 
complished  much  to  elevate  the  standard  of  common 
school  instruction  in  their  respective  counties;  there 
fore,  in  order  to  encourage  such  associations,  and  thus 
promote  the  cause  of  popular  education, 

SEC.  1.    Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  <>/  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  in  the  several  counties  mentioned 


TEACHERS'  INSTITUTES. 


301 


in  the  fifth  section,  in  which  such  associations  now 
exist,  or  in  which  such  associations  shall  be  hereafter 
formed,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  county  Commission 
ers  of  said  counties  to  appropriate  the  annual  avails,  or 
any  part  thereof,  of  the  fund  provided  for  in  the  third 
section  of  the  act  passed  March  19,  1848,  entitled  "an 
act  declaratory  of,  and  amendatory  to,  an  act  entitled 
*  an  act  providing  for  the  distribution  and  investment 
of  this  State's  proportion  of  the  surplus  revenue,' ': 
passed  March  28,  1837,  for  the  purposes  of  such 
associations. 

SEC.  2.  The  moneys  so  appropriated  shall,  upon  the 
order  of  the  county  Auditor,  be  paid  over  to,  and  ex 
pended  by  the  Board  of  School  Examiners  of  the  proper 
county;  the  one -half  thereof,  at  least,  to  the  payment 
of  suitable  persons  as  instructors  and  lecturers  to  such 
associations,  and  the  balance  to  the  purchase  and  sup 
port  of  a  suitable  common  school  library,  for  the  use 
of  such  associations. 

SEC.  3.  Every  teacher  of  common  schools  of  the 
county,  and  every  person  of  the  county  intending  to 
become  a  teacher  of  common  schools  within  the  next 
twelve  months,  shall  have  the  right,  without  charge  for 
instruction,  to  attend  the  meetings  of  such  associations, 
and  enjoy  all  their  benefits. 

SEC.  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  the  county  Boards 
of  School  Examiners,  in  the  several  counties  mentioned 
in  the  fifth  section,  to  report,  annually,  to  the  Secretary 
of  State,  during  the  month  of  December,  the  number 
of  male  and  female  teachers  examined  by  them  during 
the  year,  the  number  of  certificates  given,  how  many 
authorized  the  teaching  of  Reading,  Writing,  and  Arith 
metic  only;  and  when  moneys  shall  have  been  received 
by  virtue  of  this  act,  they  shall  also  report  how  it  has 
been  expended,  and  with  what  results. 

SEC.  5.  This  act  shall  be  in  force  only  in  the  coun 
ties  of  Ashtabula,  Lake,  Geauga,  Cuyahoga,  Erie,  Lo- 
rain,  Medina,  Trumbull,  Portage,  Summit,  Delaware. 

WILLIAM  P.  CUTLER, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
EDSON  B.  OLDS, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


County  Com- 
missioners  may 
appropriate  an 
nual  proceeds 
of  surplus  rev 
enue. 


Moneys  to  be 
paid  to  lectur 
ers,  and  for  li 
brary. 


Who  shall  have 
a  right  to  attend 
the  meetings  of 
associations. 


County  Boards 
of  Examiners  to 
report  to  Secre 
tary  of  State. 


302 


TEACHERS'  INSTITUTES. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


An  Act  to  amend  an  act  to  encourage  Teachers'  Institutes,  and 
to  extend  the  provisions  of  the  acts  providing  for  Teach 
ers'  Institutes,  and  county  Superintendents, 
to    the  several    counties  of 
this  State. 


[Passed  February  24,  1848,  XL VI  vol.  Stat.  86.] 

Former  law  SEC.  I.  That  the  provisions  of  the  act  entitled  "an 
made  general.  act  to  encourage  Teacher's  Institutes,"  and  the  act 
entitled  "an  act  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of 
county  Superintendents  of  Common  Schools,  and  de 
fining  their  duties  in  certain  counties  therein  named/' 
passed  February,  1847,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby 
extended  to  all  the  counties  in  this  State. 

Former  act  in  SEC.  2.  That  the  second  section  of  the  act  entitled 
braerie"ceamend"  " an  act  to  encourage  Teachers'  Institutes,"  passed 
ed.  February  8,  1 847,  is  hereby  so  amended  that  all  money 

used  under  the  provisions  of  said  section,  in  purchas 
ing  libraries,  shall  be  used  in  purchasing  and  support 
ing  suitable  common  school  libraries,  for  the  several 
common  school  districts  in  the  several  counties  in  this 
State  that  may  be  in  possession  of  the  funds  named  in 
the  first  section  of  this  act. 

JOSEPH  S.  HAWKINS, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
CHARLES  B.  GODDARD, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


TEACHEKS'   INSTITUTES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


An  Act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  encourage  Teachers' 
Institutes,  passed  February  8,  1847. 

[Passed  February  16,  1819,  XL VII  vol.  Stat.  19.] 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  the  county  Commissioners  of  the 
several  counties  mentioned  in  the  act  to  which  this  is 
an  amendment,  shall  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized, 
at  their  June  session,  in  each  year,  whenever,  for  any 
cause,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  shall  not  arise 
from  the  means  and  source  as  provided  in  the  first  sec 
tion  of  the  aforesaid  act,  to  appropriate  such  sum  as 
shall  be  sufficient  to  make  up  said  sum  of  one  hundred 
dollars,  from  any  moneys  in  the  county  treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated. 

SEC.  2.  That  in  case  there  are  no  moneys  at  the  dis 
posal  of  the  said  county  Commissioners,  they  are  hereby 
authorized  to  levy  a  tax  (in  the  usual  manner)  for  the 
purposes  named  in  the  preceding  section. 

SEC.  3.  That  no  part  of  the  money  appropriated  by 
virtue  of  this  act,  or  of  the  act  to  which  this  is  an 
amendment,  shall  be  ordered  by  the  county  Auditor  to 
be  paid  over,  except  upon  the  petition  of  at  least  forty 
practical  teachers,  who  shall  therein  declare  their  bona 
fide  intention  to  attend  such  association  within  their 
respective  counties,  and  who  shall  also,  at  the  time  of 
so  petitioning  as  aforesaid,  be  permanent  residents  of 
the  county  in  which  application  shall  be  made;  and 
which  payment  and  appropriation  shall  also  be  approved 
and  recommended  in  writing,  indorsed  upon  said  peti 
tion  by  the  Board  of  School  Examiners  of  such  county. 

SEC.  4.  That  said  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars,  or 
any  part  thereof,  shall  not  be  ordered  by  the  county 
Auditor  to  be  paid  over  as  aforesaid,  until  said  teachers 
shall  have  first  raised  and  paid  over,  or  secured  to  be 
paid  over,  to  said  Board  of  School  Examiners,  for  the 


County  Commis 
sioners  may  ap 
propriate  $100. 


May  levy  a  tax. 


Money,  how  and 
for  what  appro 
priated. 


Not  to  be  paid 
over  until  teach 
ers  raise  half 
the  amount 
asked  for. 


304  SALE   OF   SECTION   SIXTEEN. 

purposes  and  benefit  of  such  association,  at  least  one- 
half  of  the  sum  for  which  they  shall  so  petition  said 
county  Auditor,  and  which  payment,  or  security  for 
payment,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  made  known  to  said 
Auditor  by  the  receipt,  or  certificate  in  writing  of  said 
Board  of  School  Examiners. 

JOHN  G.  BRESLIN, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

BREWSTER  RANDALL, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

SALE  OF  SECTION  SIXTEEN". 

An  Act  to  regulate  the  sale  of  School  Lands  and  the  surrender 
of  permanent  leases  thereto. 

[Passed  Apr'd  16,  1852,  L  tol  Stat.  168.] 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Section  sixteen    Stale  of  Ohio,   That  all  those  lands  granted  by  the 
school    land  a   Congress  of    the  United  States  for  school  purposes, 
may  be  sold.        known  as  section  sixteen,  together  with  all  such  as 
have  been  granted  in  lieu  of  said  section  sixteen,  may 
be  sold,  and  such  sale  shall  be  regulated  by,  and  con 
ducted  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

now  vote  of  the  ^EC'  ^'  -^n  case  l^ere  ^ias  keen  no  vote  taken  for  the 
citizens  shall  be  sale  of  any  such  lands,  the  Trustees  of  any  original 
surveyed  township,  to  which  such  lands  may  belong, 
shall,  at  least  thirty  days  prior  to  taking  of  any  such 
vote,  cause  not  less  than  eight  notices  to  be  posted  up 
in  as  many  of  the  most  public  places  of  such  township, 
notifying  the  legal  voters  resident  therein,  to  meet  at 
some  convenient  place  and  time  therein  specified,  and 
then  and  there  cast  their  ballots,  for  or  against  the  sale 
of  any  such  lands  belonging  to  such  township. 
Same  subject.  ^B0-  3-  ^uo  Trustees  of  the  township  shall  preside 


SALE   OF   SECTION   SIXTEEN. 


305 


at  the  taking  of  such  ballots,  and  shall  appoint  two 
Clerks,  who  shall  keep  two  poll  books,  containing  the 
names  of  the  voters  and  the  result  of  the  ballot,  which 
poll  books  shall  be  signed  by  the  Trustees  and  Clerks; 
and,  in  case  such  ballot  shall  result  in  favor  of  a  sale, 
the  Trustees  shall,  within  ten  days  after  such  election, 
deposit  one  of  said  poll  books  with  the  Auditor  of  the 
county,  within  which  such  lands  (or  the  greater  portion 
thereof)  may  be  situated,  with  a  copy  of  the  notice 
given,  and  the  affidavit  of  one  or  more  of  the  Trustees, 
stating  the  manner  of  giving  said  notices,  and  the  time 
and  place  of  putting  up  the  same;  which  notices,  affi 
davit,  and  poll  book,  shall  be,  by  said  Auditor,  copied 
into  a  book  for  that  purpose  to  be  provided;  and  when 
so  recorded,  such  record  shall  be  proof  of  the  facts 
therein  stated. 

SEC.  4.  When  such  record  has  been  made,  the  Trus-  Trustees  to  peti- 
tees  of  such  township  to  which  said  lands  belong,  shall  common11  Plea/, 
file  a  petition  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the 
county  within  which  said  lands  (or  the  greater  portion 
of  them)  may  be  situate,  setting  forth  the  giving  of 
said  notice,  the  taking  of  said  ballot,  the  result  of  the 
same,  the  filing  and  recording  of  the  aforesaid  papers 
in  the  office  of  the  Auditor  of  the  proper  county,  and 
asking  the  Court  to  appoint  three  disinterested  freehold 
ers,  not  resident  of  the  township  in  which  the  land  may 
be  situated,  to  divide  and  value  the  same  in  money. 

SEC.  5.  If  such  Court  shall  be  satisfied  that  the  state-  Court  to  appoint 
ments  made  in  the  petition  are  true,  the  Court  shall  aPPraiaer8- 
appoint  three  persons  to  divide  and  appraise  the  same, 
according  to  the  prayer  of  such  petition;  and  said  ap 
praisers,  after  being  first  duly  sworn  before  some  officer 
authorized  to  administer  oaths,  and  taking  to  their  aid, 
if  they  think  necessary,  the  county  Surveyor,  shall 
proceed  to  divide  said  lands  into  such  parcels  or  tracts 
as,  in  their  opinion,  will  be  best  for  the  sale  thereof, 
and  return  in  writing  such  divisions,  suitably  numbered 
and  described,  to  the  said  Court,  with  a  just  valuation 
of  each  separate  division,  in  money. 

SEC.  6.  The  Court,  on  such  return  being  made,  and  Returns,  etc.,  to 
having  been  by  said  Court  examined,  and  found  in  all 
things  regular,  just  and  fair,  shall  certify  the  same,  and 
order  the  same  to  be  entered  of  record,  together  with 
the  petition,  and  all  the  proceedings  therein  had;  a  copy 
of  which  the  Trustees  shall  cause  to  be  filed  in  the  office 
of  the  Auditor  of  the  proper  county,  who  shall  copy 
the  same  into  a  book  containing  the  notice,  affidavit, 
and  poll  book  aforesaid,  and  immediately  following  the 
same. 

20 


306  SALE  OF  SECTION   SIXTEEN. 

County  Auditor  SEC.  7.  The  Auditor  of  the  county,  on  the  recording 
to  advertise  sale.  Qf  gajj  proceedings,  shall  forthwith  cause  a  notice  to  be 
published  in  some  newspaper  of  general  circulation  in 
said  county,  for  six  consecutive  weeks  before  the  day 
of  sale;  and,  at  the  same  time,  by  posting  up  copies  of 
such  notice  in  six  of  the  most  public  places  in  said 
county,  two  of  which  shall  be  in  the  township  where 
the  lands  are  situate,  and  one  at  the  court-house,  con 
taining  a  description  of  the  lots  or  lands  to  be  sold,  the 
valuation  thereof,  and  the  time  when  said  land  shall  be 
offered  at  public  auction,  by  said  Auditor,  at  the  door 
of  the  court-house,  at  not  less  than  the  appraised  value 
thereof;  one-twelfth  of  the  purchase  money  to  be  paid 
at  the  time  of  sale,  and  the  balance  in  eleven  annual  in 
stallments,  of  equal  amount,  with  annual  interest  thereon ; 
and  said  Auditor  shall,  at  such  time  and  place,  proceed 
to  offer  the  same  to  the  highest  bidder,  at  or  over  the 
appraisement,  and  on  the  terms  stated  in  said  notice, 
g^g.  SEC.  8.  In  case  said  lands,  or  any  part  thereof,  shall 

not  be  sold  as  aforesaid,  the  Auditor  may  continue  to 
offer  the  same  on  the  application,  in  writing,  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  township  to  which  said  lands  may  be 
long,  at  any  future  time  or  times,  until  they  shall  be 
sold,  having  first  given  the  like  notices  herein  provided, 
to  be  given  on  the  first  sale  thereof:  Provided,  that  no 
sale  shall  be  had  on  any  valuation  made  more  than  two 
years  prior  to  the  day  of  the  sale. 

^appraisement.  SEC.  9-  The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  aforesaid  is 
hereby  required,  on  the  petition  of  the  Trustees  afore 
said,  setting  forth  the  former  appraisement,  and  the 
subsequent  proceedings  thereto,  and  that  two  years 
have  elapsed,  and  the  land  remaining  unsold,  to  direct 
a  new  valuation  of  the  same  to  be  made  in  the  manner 
hereinbefore  directed,  unless  said  Court,  on  testimony, 
shall  be  satisfied  that  the  former  appraisement  is  a  just 
and  fair  valuation  of  said  lands;  in  that  case,  the  Court 
shall  make  an  entry  of  the  fact,  which  entry  shall  be 
certified  to,  and  recorded  by  the  Auditor,  in  manner 
aforesaid,  and  shall  have  the  same  effect  as  a  new  ap 
praisement. 

in  cases  of  per-  SEC.  10.  In  case  said  lands  are  held  under  permanent 
mauent  leases,  leases,  or  leases  for  ninety-nine  years,  the  legal  or  equi 
table  holder  of  any  such  lease,  wishing  to  surrender  the 
same,  and  to  purchase  the  fee  of  the  premises  so  held 
by  lease,  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
original  township  to  which  such  lands  belong,  tile  his 
petition  in  the  court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the  county 
in  which  the  largest  portion  of  such  lands  are  situate, 
setting  forth  a  description  of  the  premises  so  held,  the 


SALE   OF   SECTION    SIXTEEN.  307 

state  of  his  lease-,  or  his  title  thereto,  that  he  fs  desirous 
of  surrendering  such  lease  and  becoming  the  owner  of 
the  premises  in  fee,  aud  asking  the  Court  to  appoint 
three  disinterested  freeholders  of  the  county,  and  not 
resident  of  the  township  wherein  such  lands  are  situate, 
to  value  the  same;  and  the  Court,  on  being  satisfied  of 
the  truth  of  the  facts  set  forth  in  such  petition,  shall 
appoint  such  appraisers,  who  shall  proceed,  under  oath, 
to  make  a  just  valuation  of  the  premises  in  money, 
without  reference  to  the  improvements  made  thereon, 
under  and  by  reason  of  said  lease,  and  shall  return  such 
valuation,  in  writing,  to  said  Court;  and  the  said  Court, 
if  it  shall  be  satisfied  that  said  valuation  is  just,  shall 
confirm  the  same,  and  order  it,  with  the  petition  and 
other  proceedings  therein,  to  be  recorded:  Provided, 
that  before  the  Trustees  of  any  original  surveyed  town 
ship  shall  consent  to  the  surrender  of  any  lease,  as 
provided  in  this  act,  they  shall  cause  the  proposition  to 
be  submitted  to  the  electors  of  said  township,  at  an 
election  to  be  held  and  conducted  in  conformity  to  the 
provisions  of  the  second  section  of  this  act;  and  if,  at 
such  election,  a  majority  of  the  electors  shall  vote  to 
such  surrender,  then,  and  not  otherwise,  said  Trustees 
shall  consent  to  the  surrender,  in  manner  and  form  as 
herein  provided. 

SEC.  1 1 .  Any  such  lessee,  on  producing  to  the  Au-  Same  subject, 
ditor  of  the  proper  county,  within  one  year  after  the 
making  of  the  same,  a  certified  copy  of  such  petition 
and  appraisement,  and  confirmation,  shall  be  permitted, 
by  endorsement  thereon,  attested  by  the  Auditor,  to 
release  to  the  State  of  Ohio  all  his  interest,  title,  and 
claim  in  and  to  such  lease,  for  the  benefit  of  the  town 
ship  to  which  the  same  may  belong;  which  certified 
copy  of  said  record  and  said  release,  shall  be  recorded 
in  a  book  for  that  purpose  to  be  provided. 

SEC.  12.  The  purchaser  of  any  such  lands,  at  any  Payments  to 
Auditor's  sale,  or  the  lessee  of  any  such  land  held  un-  eJ^eJj.1™ 
der  such  lease,  on  executing  his  release,  as  aforesaid, 
shall  each,  forthwith,  pay  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
county  one-twelfth  of  the  purchase  money  in  the  first 
case,  and  one-twelfth  of  the  valuation  in  the  second, 
and  take  the  Treasurer's  receipt  therefor;  and  the  Au 
ditor,  on  receiving  the  Treasurer's  receipt  for  said  first 
installment,  shall  give  to  said  purchaser  or  lessee  a  cer 
tificate,  containing  the  name  of  the  purchaser  or  lessee, 
a  description  of  the  premises,  the  number,  amount,  and 
time  of  payment  of  the  subsequent  installments,  and 
that  said  purchaser  or  lessee,  their  heirs  or  assigns,  on 
the  punctual  payment  of  the  sums  still  due,  with 


308 


SALE    OF   SECTION    SIXTEEN. 


Same  subject. 


County  Auditor 
to  report  sales 
to  Auditor  of 
SUte. 


In  case  of  fail 
ure  of  purchaser 
to  pay, lands  to 
be  re-sold,  for 
cash. 


annual  interest  up  to  the  time  of  payment,  shall  be 
entitled  to  receive  a  final  certificate  from  such  Auditor: 
Provided,  that  such  lessee  shall  produce  to  the  Auditor 
the  certificate  of  the  proper  officer,  that  all  rents  due 
on  such  premises  have  been  paid  up  to  the  time  of  sur 
rendering  said  lease. 

SEC.  13.  Any  person  wishing  to  pay  any  money  un 
der  the  provisions  of  this  act,  in  part  or  full  payment 
of  any  such  lands,  shall  first  obtain  the  certificate  of 
the  Auditor,  of  the  amount  due,  or  to  be  paid;  and  on 
the  presentation  of  the  same,  the  Treasurer  is  author 
ized  to  receive  the  amount  therein  specified,  and  shall 
give  to  the  person  paying  the  same  a  certificate,  directed 
to  the  Auditor,  of  the  payment  of  said  sum  of  money; 
and  the  Auditor,  on  the  presentation  of  said  certificate, 
shall  give  to  such  person  a  receipi  therefor,  credit  him 
with  the  amount  in  his  books,  and  charge  the  Treasurer 
therewith. 

SEC.  14.  The  county  Auditor  shall  Keep  an  account 
with  the  county  Treasurer,  of  all  sales  made,  and  leases 
surrendered,  and  moneys  paid  thereon,  by  each  pur 
chaser  or  lessee,  and  report  the  same  to  the  Auditor  of 
State,  on  the  first  day  of  February,  May,  August,  and 
November,  in  each  and  every  year;  and,  from  the  time 
of  such  report,  the  State  shall  be  liable  to  pay  interest 
on  all  such  sums  so  reported  as  paid;  and  the  Treasurer 
of  State,  on  receiving  a  certified  copy  of  the  account 
from  the  Auditor  of  State,  shall  be  authorized  imme. 
diately  to  draw  said  money  from  the  county  Treasurers. 

SEC.  15.  If  any  such  purchaser  or  lessee  shall  fail  to 
make  any  payment  on  any  tract  of  land,  for  the  space 
of  twelve  months  after  the  time  the  same  shall  become 
due  and  payable,  the  Auditor  of  the  proper  county 
shall  forthwith  proceed  to  sell  such  tract  or  tracts  of 
land,  with  all  the  improvements  thereon,  at  the  door  of 
the  court-house,  to  the  highest  and  best  bidder  there 
for,  in  cash,  having  first  given  notice  of  the  time  and 
place  of  such  sale,  containing  a  description  of  the 
lands,  and  the  money  due  and  to  become  due  thereon, 
by  publishing  the  same  in  some  newspaper  of  general 
circulation  in  said  county,  for  six  consecutive  weeks 
before  the  day  of  sale;  and  on  such  sale,  no  bid  shall 
be  entertained  for  a  sum  which  will  not  be  sufficient  to 
pay  all  the  purchase  money  due  the  State,  and  all 
expenses  incident  to  such  sale;  and  in  case  said  prem 
ises  can  not  be  sold  for  that  amount,  they  shall  revert  to 
the  State,  in  trust  for  said  township,  and  be  sold  in  the 
manner  hereinbefore  provided  for  the  sale  of  such  lands 


SALE    OF   SECTION   SIXTEEN.  309 

not  under  permanent  leases,  or  leases  for  ninety-nine 
years. 

SEC.  16.  When  said  lands  sell  as  aforesaid,  the  pur-  Purchaser  to  re- 
chaser  shall  pay  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  county  the  ceive certificate, 
amount  so  bid  for  the  said  premises;  and  on  producing 
to  the  Auditor  the  Treasurer's  receipt  for  such  pay 
ment,  the  Auditor  shall  give  him  a  final  certificate, 
stating  the  fact  of  such  sale,  the  name  of  the  pur 
chaser,  the  description  of  the  lands  sold,  the  amount 
for  which  sold,  the  payment  of  the  same,  and  that  the 
purchaser  is  entitled  to  receive,  from  the  State  of  Ohio, 
a  deed  in  fee  simple  for  the  same,  on  producing  to  the 
proper  officer  this  certificate. 

SEC.  17.  When  any  purchaser  or  lessee,  their  heirs  Final      certifi- 
or  assignees,    shall    have   made  payment  in   full,  the   cate* 
Auditor  shall  give  to  such  person  a  final  certificate,  con 
taining,  in  addition  to  the  former  one,  the  fact  of  the 
payment  in   full,  and  that  said  person   is  entitled  to 
receive  from  the  State  of  Ohio,  a  deed  in  fee  simple  for 
said  premises,  on  the  presentation  of  this  certificate  to 
the  proper  officer  or  officers. 

SEC.  18.  The  Auditor  of  State,  upon  the  filing  of   Deed  from  the 
any  such  final  certificate  in  his  office,  shall  make  out   State- 
the  draft  for  a  deed  therefor,  and  deliver  the  same,  with 
such  final  certificate,  to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  who 
shall  sign  said  deed,  and  cause  the  same  to  be  sealed 
with  the  great  seal  of  the  State,  and  countersigned  and 
recorded  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  by  him  deliv 
ered  to  the  grantee,  on  demand. 

SEC.  19.  All  excess  of  moneys  made  on  any  sale  of  Excess  of  mon- 
delinquent  lands  as  aforesaid,  after  paying  all  sums  %;edh0°fw  dis" 
due,  interest  and  costs,  shall  be  paid,  on  demand,  to 
such  delinquent  owner,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  from  the 
county  treasury,  on  the  order  of  the  Auditor,  if  such 
demand  be  made  within  one  year  from  the  time  of  such 
sale;  and  if  not  so  demanded,  it  shall  be  paid  into  the 
State  treasury;  and,  unless  the  same  shall  be  demanded 
within  one  year  after  the  same  shall  have  been  paid 
into  the  State  treasury,  it  shall  be  applied  for  the  same 
uses  as  the  lands  are  subject  to. 

SEC.  20.  The  fees  for  services  under  this  act  shall  Fees. 
be  as  follows:  The  Court  shall  tax  such  fees  on  any 
petition  filed  in  the  same,  as  are  allowed  for  similar 
services  on  proceedings  in  chancery.  The  county 
Auditor  to  be  allowed  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  on 
each  sale  made  by  him;  for  each  certificate,  fifty  cents; 
for  each  receipt,  six  cents,  to  be  paid  by  the  purchaser, 
and  the  same  fees  for  recording  as  is  allowed  to  county 
Recorders,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  first  moneys  paid  in  as 


310 


SALE   OF   SECTION   SIXTEEN. 


interest  or  rents,  on  such  sale  or  surrender.  All  print' 
ers'  fees  for  advertising,  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  county 
treasury,  on  the  order  of  the  Auditor,  and  refunded 
chit  of  the  first  moneys  received  on  such  sale,  as  inter 
est  or  rents.  The  cost  in  Court  shall,  in  case  of  a  peti 
tion  by  the  Trustees,  be  paid  out  of  the  county  treas 
ury,  on  the  order  of  the  county  Auditor,  and  refunded 
out  of  the  first  moneys  received  from  the  sale,  as  inter 
est  or  rents;  in  case  of  a  lessee  being  petitioner,  all 
costs  shall  be  paid  by  him. 

Acts  repealed.  SEC.  21.  The  act  entitled  "an  act  to  provide  for  the 
sale  of  section  sixteen,  granted  by  Congress  for  the  use 
of  schools,"  passed  January  29,  1827;  the  act  entitled 

Chase,  1552.  "an  act  to  extend  the  time  of  payment  to  purchasers 
of  school  lands  in  this  State,"  passed  January  3,  1843; 

41  v.  stat.  4.  the  act  entitled  "  an  act  to  regulate  the  sale  of  minis 
terial  and  school  lands,  and  the  surrender  of  permanent 
leases  thereto,"  passed  February  2,  1843;  the  act  enti- 

41  T.  stat.  20.       tied  "an  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  an  act  to  extend 

the  time  of  payment  to  purchasers  of  school  lands  in 
this  State,"  passed  March  6,  1844;  the  act  entitled 

42  v.  stat.  39.       "an  act  to  amend  the  act  to  regulate  the  sale  of  minis 

terial  and  school  lands,  and  the  surrender  of  perma 
nent  leases  thereto,  passed  February  2,  1843,"  passed 
42r.stat.43.       March   12,   1844;  the  act  entitled  "an  act  to  fix  the 
minimum  price  of  the  sales  of  school  lands,"  passed 

43  v**tat.  58.      March  4,  1845;  and  the  act  entitled  "an  act  to  amend 

an  act  entitled  an  act  to  extend  the  time  of  payment  to 
purchasers  of  school  lands  in  this  State,  and  an  act 
amendatory  thereto,"  passed  February  1,  1847,  be, 
45  r.  stat.  si.  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed:  Provided,  such 
repeal  shall  not  impair,  or  in  any  manner  affect  any 
rights  or  interests  acquired  under  any  of  said  acts.* 

JAMES  C.  JOHNSON, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
WILLIAM  MEDILL, 

President  of  the  Senate. 


*An  act  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  Register  of  the  Virginia 
Military  School  Lands,  was  passed  February  23,  1852,  50  v.  Slut.  1U8. 
As  to  the  sale  of  Western  Reserve  School  Lands,  see  46  v.  Stat,  38;  47 
T.  Local  Laws,  '<32;  48  v.  Stat  53. 


SALE   OF   SECTION   SIXTEEN.  311 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


An  Act  to  confirm  sales  made  by  the  Trustees  of  the  civil  town 
ships  of  section  sixteen,  and  other  lands  granted  by 
Congress  in  lieu  thereof,  to  purchasers. 

[Passed  April  5,  1856,  LIII  vol.  Stat.—.] 

WHEREAS,  in  many  counties  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  Preamble, 
through  misapprehension  of  an  act  entitled  "an  act  to 
regulate  the  sale  of  ministerial  and  school  lands,  and 
the  surrender  of  permanent  leases  thereto,"  passed  Feb 
ruary  2,  1843;  also  of  an  act  entitled  "an  act  to  regu 
late  the  sale  of  school  lands  and  the  surrender  of  per 
manent  leases  thereto,"  passed  April  16,  1852,  the 
Trustees  of  the  civil  townships  have  sold  section 
sixteen  to  various  purchasers,  who  have  purchased 
said  lands  in  good  faith,  have  paid  the  purchase  money 
and  taken  possession  of  said  lands,  and  in  many  in 
stances  made  large  improvements  on  the  same;  there 
fore,  in  order  to  cure  the  defects  in  the  titles  of  such 
purchasers  to  such  lands,  and  to  quiet  them  in  the 
possession  thereof, 

SEC.  1 .  Be  it  enacted  ly  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Title  confirmed. 
State  of  Ohio,  That  such  sales  of  section  sixteen  in 
the  original  surveyed  townships  or  fractional  town 
ships,  and  all  sales  of  land  granted  by  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  in  lieu  of  said  section  sixteen,  which 
have  been  made  otherwise  in  conformity  with  the  pro 
visions  of  the  acts  recited  in  the  foregoing  preamble 
be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  confirmed;  and  such  pur 
chasers  and  their  assignees  and  heirs  at  law  shall  hold 
the  purchases  so  by  them  made,  by  a  title  as  good  and 
valid  as  though  the  proceedings  for  such  sale  had  been 
instituted  by  the  Trustees  of  the  original  surveyed  or 
fractional  townships. 

K  H.  VAN  YOHHES, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

THOMAS  H.  FORD, 

President  of  the  Senate. 


312 


SCHOOL    FUNDS. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


SCHOOL  FUNDS. 


An  Act  to  establish  a  fund  for  the  support  of  common  schools. 

[Passed  March  2,  1831.     Took  effect,  June  1,  1831.    XXIX  vol. 
Stat.  4'23.] 


Fund  establish 
ed,  etc. 


Auditor  of  State 
the  Superin 
tendent; 


— And  how  to 
keep  account  of 
funds  from  sale 
of  school  lands; 


-Irreducible; 


—Rate  of  Inter- 
eat  and  account 
thereof; 


SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  there  is  hereby  constituted  and 
established  a  fund,  to  be  designated  by  the  name  of 
"the  common  school  fund;"  the  income  of  which 
shall  be  appropriated  to  the  support  of  common 
schools  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  such  manner  as  shall 
be  pointed  out  by  law;  of  which  fund  the  Auditor  of 
State  shall  be  the  Superintendent,  until  otherwise  di 
rected  by  law. 

SEC.  2.  That  whenever,  and  so  often,  as  any  moneys 
shall  be  paid  into  the  State  treasury,  arising  from  the 
sale  of  any  lands  which  heretofore  have  been,  or  here 
after  may  be,  appropriated  by  Congress,  for  the  use  or 
support  of  schools  in  any  original  surveyed  township, 
or  other  district  of  country,  in  this  State,  the  Auditor 
of  State  shall  forthwith  open  an  account,  in  a  book  or 
books  to  be  provided  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  pass 
the  said  moneys  to  the  credit  of  such  township,  or 
other  district  of  country;  which  said  money  shall  con 
stitute  an  irreducible  fund,  the  proceeds  accruing  from 
which  shall  be  paid  over  and  appropriated,  in  the 
manner  which  shall  be  pointed  out  by  law,  for  the 
support  of  common  schools  within  the  township,  or 
other  district  of  country,  to  and  for  no  other  use  or 
purpose  whatever. 

SEC.  3.  That  all  moneys  paid  into  the  State  treasury 
as  aforesaid,  shall  bear  an  annual  interest  of  six  per 
centum;  which  interest  shall  be  cast  from  the  time  of 
the  payment  of  any  principal  sum,  up  to  the  first  day 


SCHOOL   FUNDS.  313 

of  January,  next  succeeding  such  payment,  and  on  the 
first  day  of  January,  annually,  thereafter;  and  where 
the  same   has  not   been   done,   the  Auditor  of   State 
shall,  in  a  book  or  books  to  be  provided  for  that  pur 
pose,  open  an  interest  account  with  every  township,  or 
other  district  of  country,  to  which  a  credit  in  the  irre 
ducible  fund  aforesaid  shall  have  been  passed;  and  he 
shall,  in  such  book  or  books,  keep  accurate  accounts 
of  the  accrual  and  disbursement  of  all  interest  accru 
ing  from  such  fund,  so  as  aforesaid  belonging  to  any 
township  or  district  of  country;  and  the  faith  of  the  —Pledge  for  its 
State  of  Ohio  is  hereby  pledged  for  the  annual  pay-   payment; 
ment  of  the  interest  aforesaid,  to  the  person  who,  and 
in  the  manner  which,  shall   be    pointed   out  by  law; 
which  said  interest  shall  be  appropriated  and  expended  —its  appropri- 
for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  common  schools  atlon> 
within   the    township,    or   other   district  of   country, 
entitled  as  aforesaid  to  the  same. 

SEC.  4.  That  for  the  payment  of  any  interest  that  —order therefor 
shall  have  accrued,  and  be  payable  to  and  for  any  and  payment; 
township,  or  other  district  of  country  as  aforesaid,  the 
county  Auditor  of  the  proper  county  shall,  annually, 
on  or  after  the  first  day  of  January,  draw  an  order  on 
the  Treasurer  of  State,  in  favor  of  the  Treasurer  of  the 
proper  county,  for  the  interest  which  shall  be  payable 
in  such  county;  and  upon  such  order  being  presented 
to  the  Auditor  of  State,  he  shall  thereupon  certify  an 
abstract  of  the  amount  of  interest  payable  to  each 
township,  or  other  district  of  country,  in  such  county;  —Receipt,  etc. 
and  thereupon,  on  presentation  of  said  order,  the 
Treasurer  of  State  shall  pay  the  amount  of  interest  ap 
pearing  by  said  abstract  to  be  due;  and  the  said  county 
Treasurer,  or  the  person  presenting  said  order  for  him, 
shall  indorse  on  said  order  a  receipt  for  so  much  as 
shall  be  paid  thereon,  and  shall  also  sign  a  duplicate 
receipt,  which  shall  be  lodged  with  the  Auditor  of 
State,  who  shall  credit  the  State  Treasurer  therewith, 
and  charge  the  several  items  constituting  the  aggregate 
of  such  abstract,  to  the  proper  township,  or  other  dis-  —Distribution, 
trict  of  country;  and  the  money  so  drawn,  shall  be 
paid  out  by  the  county  Treasurer,  on  the  order  of  the 
county  Auditor,  in  the  proportions  established  by  law, 
to  the  proper  person  or  persons  in  each  school  district 
authorized  to  receive  the  same.  And  in  all  cases  in 
which  a  county  line  shall  divide  any  original  surveyed 
township,  or  fractional  part  thereof,  the  interest,  pay 
able  in  such  township;  shall  be  received  and  disbursed 
in  manner  aforesaid,  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  county 
wherein  the  greatest  quantity  of  land  belonging  to 


314 


SCHOOL    FCND9. 


Donations  and 
bequests  to  vest 
in  common 
school  funds, 
etc. 


General  fund  es 
tablished. 


Of  what  to  con- 
list. 


State      pledged 
for  the  interest. 


Interest  funded 
until  1835. 


How  distributed 
afterward. 


such  township  shall  be  situate;  but  if  it  be  uncertain 
in  which  county  the  greatest  quantity  of  land  in  such 
township  be  situate,  then  the  said  interest  shall  be  re 
ceived  and  disbursed  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  oldest 
county  in  which  any  part  of  such  township  shall  be 
situate. 

SEC.  5.  That  whenever  any  donation  or  devise  shall 
be  made,  by  gift,  grant,  last  will  and  testament,  or 
in  any  other  manner  whatever,  of  any  estate,  either 
real,  personal,  or  mixed,  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  or  to 
any  person,  or  otherwise,  in  trust  for  the  said  common 
school  fund,  by  any  individual,  body  politic  or  corporate, 
the  same  shall  be  vested  in  said  common  school  fund; 
and  whenever  the  moneys  arising  from  such  gift, 
grant,  or  devise,  shall  be  paid  into  the  State  treasury, 
the  proper  accounts  thereof  shall  be  kept,  and  the 
interest  accruing  therefrom  shall  be  appropriated  ac 
cording  to  the  intent  and  design  of  such  donor,  grantor, 
or  devisor. 

SEC.  6.  That  there  shall  be  constituted  a  fund  for  the 
support  of  common  schools,  which  shall  belong,  in 
common,  to  the  people  of  this  State;  which  shall  con 
sist  of  the  net  amount  of  the  money  which  heretofore 
has  been,  or  hefeafter  may  be,  paid  into  the  State 
treasury,  from  the  sales  of  the  lands  commonly  called 
the  salt  lands,  and  such  donations,  legacies  and  devises, 
as  may  be  made  to  such  fund,  or  to  any  person  or  per 
sons,  in  trust  for  the  same.  And  the  State  of  Ohio  is 
hereby  pledged  to  pay  the  interest,  annually,  on  any  and 
all  sums  of  money  which  shall  have  been,  or  may  here 
after  be,  paid  into  such  treasury,  from  the  passage  of 
this  act,  or  the  receipt  of  such  money  into  the  treasury 
aforesaid;  and  the  interest  arising  as  aforesaid,  shall  be 
funded  annually,  until  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-five;  after  which  time 
the  said  interest  shall  be  annually  distributed  to  the 
several  counties  in  this  State,  in  proportion  to  the  num 
ber  of  white  male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  as  by  law  shall  be  ascertained,  for  the 
apportionment  of  Representatives;  and  the  proportion 
of  interest,  due  to  each  and  every  such  county,  shall 
be  distributed  for  the  support  of  common  schools,  in 
the  respective  counties,  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the 
act  to  provide  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of 
common  schools. 

[The  balance  of  the  chapter  is  probably  superseded 
by  the  act  organizing  the  sinking  fund.  The  provisions 
are  retained  in  Swan's  Revised  Statutes. 


SCHOOL   FUNDS.  315 

It  it  also  questionable  whether  the  State  common 
school  fund,  organized  in  section  6,  is  in  existence.  If 
so,  the  act  of  March  6,  1844,  adds  to  it  "all  moneys 
arising  from  licenses  to  peddlers,  all  moneys  arising 
from  auction  duties,  or  licenses  to  auctioneers,  except 
in  the  county  of  Hamilton;  and  all  fines  and  penalties 
collected  under  the  laws  relating  to  each  of  said  funds;" 
but  the  same  act  limits  the  fund,  however  derived,  to 
8200,000. 

The  doubt  grows  out  of  the  language  of  section  63 
of  the  General  School  Act,  (chapter  i,  ante,)  namely: 
"The  State  common  school  fund  shall  hereafter  consist 
of  such  sum  as  will  be  produced  by  the  annual  levy 
and  assessment  of  one  mill  and  one-half  mill  on  the 
grand  list  of  taxable  property,"  etc.  The  late revisors, 
Swan  and  Curwen,  regard  those  provisions  as  yet  in 
force,  and  the  repeal  is  exclusively  by  implication. 
The  following  act  stands  on  the  same  footing:*] 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


An  Act  to  increase  the  general  fund  for  the  support  of  common 

schools,  established  by  the  sixth  section  of  the  act  to 

establish  a  fund  for  the  support  of  common  schools, 

passed  March  2,  1851,  by  the  appropriation 

of  the  proceeds  of  the  swamp  lands 

to  that  fund. 

[Passed  March  24,  1849.,  XLIX  vol.  Stat.  40.] 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Proceeds   of 
State  of  Ohio,  That  the  net  proceeds  which  may  here-   Jjjed88 of  t*wanJP 
after  be  paid  into  the  State  treasury,  from  the  sales  of   added    to    the 
swamp  lands  granted  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  by  act  of    fcu7dmon  8ch°o1 
Congress,  passed  Sept.  28th,  1850,  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby  appropriated  to  the  general  fund  for  the  sup 
port  of   common  schools;    and  the  State  of    Ohio  is 
hereby  pledged  to  pay  the  interest,  annually,  on  any 
and  all  sums  of  money  which  may  be   paid  into  the 

*See  Swan's  Revised  Statutes,  853-4. 


316  SCHOOL   FUNDS. 

State  treasury,  from  the  sales  of  said  lands,  from  the 
receipt  of  such  money  into  the  treasury  aforesaid;  and 
the  interest  arising  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  funded  annu 
ally,  until  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  fifty-five;  after  which  time  the  said  inter 
est  shall  be  annually  distributed  to  the  several  counties 
in  this  State,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  white  male 
inhabitants  above  the  age  of  twenty -one,  as  by  law 
shall  be  ascertained,  for  the  apportionment  of  Represen 
tatives;  and  the  proportion  of  interest  due  to  each  and 
every  such  county,  shall  be  distributed  for  the  support 
of  common  schools  in  the  respective  counties,  in  the 
manner  prescribed  in  the  "act  to  provide  for  the  sup 
port  and  better  regulation  of  Common  Schools." 

JOHN  F.  MORSE, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

CHARLES  C.   CONVERS, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Corporate  au 
thorities  of  Cin 
cinnati  to  pro 
vide  for  common 
schools. 


A  Board  of 
TrusteesandVig- 
itors  of  Common 
Schools  to  be 
elected. 


An  Act  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  and  better  regulation  of 
common  schools  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati. 

[Passed  January  27,  1853,  LI  vol.  Stat.  503.] 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  That  the  corporate  authorities  of  the 
city  of  Cincinnati  are  hereby  authorized  and  required, 
at  the  expense  of  said  city,  to  provide  for  the  support 
and  regulation  of  the  common  schools  of  said  city,  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

SEC.  2.  At  every  annual  election  of  city  officers, 
there  shall  be  elected  in  each  ward  of  said  city,  by  the 
qualified  electors  thereof,  one  judicious  and  competent 
person  to  serve  as  Trustee  and  Visitor  of  Common 
Schools  of  said  city,  for  the  term  of  two  years  from  the 
first  Tuesday  in  July  succeeding  his  election,  and  until 
his  successors  shall  be  elected  and  qualified;  and  tl»« 
person  so  elected,  together  with  the  Trustees  and  Vis 
itors  of  the  several  wards  of  said  city,  already  elected 


SCHOOL  FUNDS.  317 

for  two  years,  and  whose  term  of  office  will  not  expire 
at  the  close  of  the  present  school  year,  shall  constitute 
a  Board  of  Education  for  said  city,  to  be  denominated 
the  Board  of  Fund  Trustees  and  Visitors  of  Common 
Schools. 

SEC.  3.    The  said  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visitors  Board  to  appoint 
shall  take  an  oath  of  office,  and,  at  their  first  meeting  *"'1 

in  July,  choose  a  President,  Vice-President,  and  Cor 
responding  Secretary;  the  said  Board  may  appoint  and 
fix  the  salaries  of  a  Superintendent,  Clerk,  and  Mes 
senger,  and  prescribe  their  duties;  they  shall  meet 
once  in  every  week,  at  such  time  and  place  as  to  them 
may  be  convenient,  a  majority  of  whom  shall  consti- 
tute  a  quorum;  they  shall  have  power  to  fill  all  vacan 
cies  in  their  own  body,  and  if  any  Trustee  shall  absent 
himself  from  the  regular  meetings  of  said  Board  for  six 
consecutive  weeks,  unless  by  reason  of  sickness,  or  by 
consent  of  the  Board,  such  non-attendance  shall  be 
considered  a  virtual  resignation  on  his  part,  and  the 
Board,  upon  entering  such  fact  upon  its  minutes,  shall 
proceed  to  fill  such  vacancy.  They  shall  also  have 
power  to  make  such  by-laws,  rules,  and  regulations  for 
their  own  government,  not  inconsistent  with  this  act, 
and  the  laws  of  the  State,  as  they  may  deem  proper 
and  expedient,  and  they  shall  cause  a  record  of  their 
proceedings  to  be  kept  in  books  provided  for  that 
purpose. 

SEC.  4.    That  the  said  Trustees  and  Visitors  shall,  l 

on  or  before  the  second  Monday  of  May,  annually,  school  taxes, 
cause  to  be  certified  to  the  city  Council  of  Cincinnati, 
an  estimate  of  the  amount  necessary  to  be  raised  in 
said  ciiy,  for  school  purposes,  not  exceeding  two  mills 
on  the  dollar,  upon  all  property  in  said  city  valued  or 
appraised,  and  liable  and  subject  to  taxation  for  State 
and  county  purposes,  corporation,  school-house,  and 
school  taxes;  and  the  city  Council  shall  certify  the  said 
amount  so  to  be  raised  to  the  county  Auditor,  who  is 
hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  place  the  same  on 
the  duplicate  of  taxes  for  said  county,  in  the  same 
manner  as  township  taxes  now  by  law  are  placed  on 
such  duplicate,  which  said  school  taxes  shall  be  col 
lected  by  the  county  Treasurer  of  said  county,  and  be 
by  him  paid  into  the  city  treasury  on  the  first  day 
of  January,  annually. 

SEC.  5.  That  the  said  Board  shall  have  power  to  alter  Court  ™?  aller 

,.  „•,  ,        ,,.       .  /.        •  i       •  ,     or  make    new 

the  boundaries  of  the  school  districts  of  said  city,  and  school  districts, 
to  form   new  districts  when   the   public    convenience 
requires  it. 

SEC.  6.    That  the  said  Trustees  and  Visitors  shall 


318 


SCHOOL    FUNDS. 


Their 
o°r  ' 


bouses 


power  as  have  authority  to  purchase,  in  fee  simple,  (subject  to 
the  confirmation  of  the  Council,)  or  receive  as  a  dona- 

g  school-  tion  for  the  use  of  said  city,  such  additional  lots  of 
land,  or  sites  for  school-houses,  as  may  be  required  for 
the  several  districts  in  said  city,  and  shall,  by  concur 
rence  of  the  city  Council,  cause  to  be  erected  thereon 
good  and  substantial  school -houses,  of  such  dimensions 
and  capacity  as  shall  be  requisite  and  convenient  for 
the  use  of  common  schools  of  said  city;  the  purchase- 
money  of  said  lots,  and  the  expense  of  erecting  build 
ings  thereon,  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  common  school 
funds  provided  for  in  the  fourth  section  of  this  act; 
and  all  property  so  purchased,  and  all  other  property 
heretofore  purchased  for  school  purposes,  shall  be 
held  exempt  from  the  general  debts  of  said  city,  and 
only  liable  for  debts  contracted  for  common  school 
purposes. 

SEC.  7.  That  the  said  Trustees  and  Visitors  shall 
cause  to  be  paid  out  of  the  school  funds  made  subject 
to  their  control  by  this  act,  the  interest  accruing  on  the 
bonds  given  by  the  city  for  common  school  purposes, 
and  shall  provide,  by  a  sinking  fund,  or  otherwise,  for 
the  final  redemption  and  payment  of  said  bonds,  as  the 
same  f;hall  become  due.  And  all  other  funds  ma-le 
subject  to  the  control  of  said  Board  by  this  act,  shall  be 
exclusively  applied  to  the  maintenance  and  support  of 
the  schools  hereby  provided  for,  and  for  no  other  pur 
pose  whatever. 

SEC.  8.  That  all  moneys  heretofore  collected  for  the 
use  of  common  or  colored  schools,  remaining  on  hand 
and  unexpended,  in  the  city  treasury,  shall  be  held  by 
the  city  Treasurer,  subject  to  the  order  of  said  Board, 
for  the  payment  of  bills  for  school  purposes,  by  them 
allowed,  and  to  be  paid  out  by  said  Treasurer  on  the 
check  of  the  city  Auditor,  and  shall  be  kept  on  deposit 
where  other  ciiy  funds  are  deposited;  and  all  such 
moneys,  and  all  other  moneys  belonging  to  the  com 
mon  school  fund,  or  appropriated  in  any  manner  for  the 
purpose  of  public  education,  paid  into  the  city-treasury, 
shall  be  kept  by  said  Treasurer  as  a  separate  and  dis 
tinct  fund,  and  the  same  shall  not  be  applied,  paid 
over,  or  pledged,  under  any  pretense  whatever,  to  any 
other  use  than  that  for  which  it  was  levied  and  col 
lected,  and  paid  into  the  ciiy  treasury,  nor  upon  any 
other  order  or  authority  than  that  of  the  Board  of  Ti -u>- 
tees  and  Visitors,  as  certified  by  their  clerk:  Provided, 
that  no  money  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  city  treasury  f»r 
school  purposes,  except  on  a  vote  of  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  said  Board. 


Interest     on 
bonds,  how  paid. 


Payment  of 
bonds  to  be  pro 
vided  for. 
Funds  to  be  ap 
plied  to  school 
purposes  exclu 
sively. 


Board  to  have 
control  of school 
fund. 


SCHOOL   FUNDS. 


310 


SEC.  9.  That  the  said  Trustees  and  Visitors  shall 
have  superintendence  of  all  the  schools  in  said  city, 
organized  and  established  under  this  act,  and  from  time 
to  time  shall  make  such  regulations  for  the  government 
and  instruction  of  the  children  therein  as  to  them  shall 
appear  proper  and  expedient.  They  shall  appoint  and 
employ  all  teachers  and  instructors  for  the  same,  and 
fix  their  salaries.  They  shall,  at  least  every  third  year, 
during  the  month  of  October,  cause  to  be  taken  an 
enumeration  of  all  children  between  four  and  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  residing  in  the  several  school  dis 
tricts,  distinguishing,  in  such  enumeration,  the  white 
from  the  colored  children;  and  on  or  before  the  fif 
teenth  day  of  November  following,  through  their  Clerks, 
certify  the  same  to  the  Auditor  of  Hamilton  county; 
and  such  enumeration  shall,  until  another  be  taken, 
form  the  basis  of  the  city  portion,  in  the  annual  distri 
bution  of  the  State  school  fund.  And  the  said  Board 
of  Trustees  and  Visitors  shall  fix,  by  resolution,  the 
school  year  of  said  schools,  and  determine  the  times 
and  duration  of  all  the  vacations  thereof;  they  shall 
provide  for  an  annual  examination  of  all  said  schools, 
and,  at  the  close  of  every  school  year,  make  and  pub 
lish,  for  the  information  of  the  citizens,  a  report  on  the 
condition  of  the  schools  under  their  charge,  as  well  as 
the  fiscal  and  other  concerns  in  relation  thereto,  and  a 
particular  account  of  the  administration  thereof,  and 
generally  do  and  perform  all  matters  and  things  per 
taining  to  the  duties  of  their  said  office,  which  may  be 
necessary  and  proper  to  promote  the  education,  mor 
als,  and  good  conduct  of  the  children  instructed  in  said 
schools. 

SEC.  10.  That  the  said  Trustees  and  Visitors,  for  the 
purpose  of  better  organizing  and  classifying  the  schools 
under  their  supervision,  shall  have  power  to  establish 
and  maintain,  out  of  any  fund  under  their  control,  such 
grades  of  schools,  other  than  those  already  provided 
for,  as  may  to  them  seem  necessary  and  expedient  for 
the  above-named  purposes,  and  are  hereby  authorized 
to  cause  to  be  taught  therein,  such  other  studies  in 
addition  to  those  taught  in  their  district  schools,  and 
under  such  regulations  as  said  Trustees  and  Viskors 
may  from  time  to  time  prescribe:  Provided,  however, 
that  said  funds  shall  not  be  appropriated  toward  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  such  other  grade 
of  schools  so  as  in  any  wise  to  impair  the  efficiency 
and  permanency  of  the  common  district  schools  of  said 
oity. 

SEC.  11.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Board  of 


To  superintend 
schools ;  to  make 
all  rules  and 
regulations. 


To  employ 
teachers,  and 
every  three 
years  make  an 
enumeration  of 
all  children  be 
tween  4  and  21 
years  of  age. 


To  make  a  report 
at  the  close  of 
the  school  year. 


To  establish 
such  grades  of 
schools  as  they 
may  think  prop  • 
er. 


320 


SCHOOL    FUNDS. 


Their  power  In 
relation  to  Ger 
man  schools. 


Schools  equally 
free  and  accessi 
ble  to  all  white 
children. 


Board  may  es 
tablish  evening 
ickools. 


Board  of  Exam 
iners. 


Trustees  and  Visitors  of  Common  Schools  to  provide  a 
suitable  number  of  German  schools  for  the  instruction  of 
such  youth  as  may  desire  to  study  the  German  language, 
or  the  German  and  English  languages  together.  The 
said  Board  may,  when,  in  their  opinion,  the  same  shall  be 
necessary,  establish  one.or  more  German-English  senior 
or  principal  departments,  the  transfers  to  which  shall  be 
made  irrespective  of  the  districts  established  for  English 
schools,  and  the  schools  provided  for  in  this  section 
shall  be  subject  to  such  regulations  as  said  Board  may 
adopt  for  the  government  thereof,  and  also  subject  to 
the  proviso  contained  in  the  tenth  section  of  this  act. 

SEC.  12.  That  the  common  schools  in  the  several 
districts  of  the  city,  and  all  other  grades  of  schools 
authorized,  or  established  and  maintained,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  from  the  school  funds  of  said  city,  shall,  at  all 
times,  be  equally  free  and  accessible  to  all  white  chil 
dren  not  less  than  six  years  of  age,  who  may  reside  in 
said  city,  and  subject  only  to  such  regulations  for  their 
admission,  government,  and  instruction,  as  the  Trustees 
and  Visitors  may  from  time  to  time  provide:  Provided, 
that  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  so  as  to  inter 
fere  with  or  interrupt  the  public  high  schools  in  said 
city  as  now  established  and  organized. 

SEC.  13.  The  said  Trustees  and  Visitors  may  provide 
a  suitable  number  of  evening  schools,  during  the  fall 
and  winter  mouths,  for  the  instruction  of  such  youth, 
over  ten  years  of  age,  as  are  prevented,  by  their  daily 
avocations,  from  attending  day  schools,  which  schools 
shall  be  subject  to  such  regulations  as  said  Board  may, 
from  time  to  time,  adopt. 

SEC.  14.  There  shall  be  a  Board  of  Examiners,  com 
posed  of  seven  members;  and,  at  the  expiration  of  the 
respective  terms  of  those  now  in  office,  the  said  Board 
of  Trustees  and  Visitors  shall  appoint,  for  the  term  of 
three  years,  suitable  persons,  residents  and  citizens  of 
said  city,  of  competent  learning  and  abilities,  as  Exam 
iners  of  said  schools,  and  of  the  qualification  of  teach 
ers  thereof,  which  Examiners,  when  organized  by  the 
election  of  a  President,  shall  constitute  and  be  denom 
inated  the  "Board  of  Examiners"  of  common  schools 
in  Cincinnati,  and  all  vacancies  which  may  occur  in 
said  Board  shall  be  filled  by  said  Trustees  and  Visitors. 
It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Board  of  Examiners  to  meet 
at  least  once  in  every  month,  to  examine  the  qualifica 
tions,  competency,  and  moral  character  of  all  persons 
desirous  of  becoming  teachers  and  instructors  in  said 
schools,  as  well  with  reference  to  their  methods  of  in 
struction  and  mode  of  government  as  literary  attain- 


SCHOOL  FUNDS. 


321 


ments;  and  any  four  members  of  said  Board  shall  have 
power  to  grant  certificates  thereof  to  such  persons  as, 
in  their  opinion,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  the  same; 
and  no  person  shall  be  employed  and  paid,  directly  or 
indirectly,  as  teacher  or  instructor  in  any  of  said  schools, 
until  he"  or  she  shall  have  obtained  from  said  Board  of 
Examiners  a  certificate  of  qualifications  as  to  his  or  her 
competency  and  moral  character. 

SEC.  15.  And  the  said  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visi-   HOW    Trustees 

and   Visitors 

tors  shall  have  power  to  contract  for  the  sale  or  any  may  sen  school 
real  estate  held  by  said  city  for  school  purposes,  which  Pr°Perty- 
they  may  deem  unsuitable  for  such  purpose,  and  upon 
their  certifying  such  fact  to  the  city  Council;  and,  if 
said  city  Council  approve  such  sale,  they  shall  direct 
the  proper  city  officers  to  execute,  on  behalf  of  said 
city,  a  good  and  sufficient  deed  for  the  property  so  con 
tracted  to  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds  of  such  sale  shall 
be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  school  funds. 

SEC.  16.  All  fines  and  penalties  that  may  be  received  Certain  fines 
or  collected  under  the  provisions  of  any  law  levying  a  tor  s 
tax  on  sales  at  auction,  and  all  fines  collected  under  the  P°ses- 
city  ordinances  not  appropriated  by  law,  are  hereby 
appropriated  to  the  use,  benefit,  and  support  of   the 
common  schools  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati;  and  it  is 
hereby  made  the  duty  of  the  Treasurer  of  Hamilton 
county  and  the  Mayor  of  said  city,  to  pay  the  same  into 
the  city  treasury,  for  school  purposes. 

SEC.  17.*   [The  property  of  all  colored  persons  in 
said  city  shall  be  listed  and  taxed  for  school  purposes 


*  Section  17,  in  the  act  of  January  27,  1853,  was  as  follows: 

"SEC.  17.  The  property  of  all  colored  persons  in  said  city  shall  be  Schools  for  ool- 
listed  and  taxed  for  school  purposes  in  the  same  manner  as  the  property  ored  children. 
*f  other  persons,  and  separate  schools  shall  be  established  for  the  edu 
cation  of  the  colored  children  of  said  city,  in  such  districts  as  the  Board 
of  Trustees  and  Visitors  of  Common  Schools  shall  select  for  that  purpose. 
The  school  so  established  shall  be  under  the  management  and  control  of 
«aid  Board,  and  so  much  of  the  school  funds  of  said  city  as,  upon  an 
6qual  distribution  of  the  same  per  capita,  under  any  enumeration  required 
by  this  act,  would  fall  to  the  share  of  the  colored  children  of  said  city, 
shall  be  appropriated  as  a  fund,  subject  to  the  order  of  said  Board,  for 
the  support  of  schools  for  colored  children." 

By  an  act,  passed  April  18,  1854,  (LII  vol.  Stat.  49,)  the  section  was 
amended  to  read  as  follows: 

"Sec.  17.  The  property  of  all  colored  persons  in  said  city  shall  be  Colored  schools  to 
listed  and  taxed  for  school  purposes  in  the  same  manner  as  the  property  be  separate. 
of  other  persons,  and  separate  schools  shall  be  established  for  the  edu 
cation  of  the  colored  children  of  said  city,  in  such  districts  as  the  Board 
of  Trustees  and  Visitors  of  Common  Schools  shall,  from  time  to  time, 
establish  for  that  purpose;  and  the  district  schools  so  established,  shall 
be  conducted  under  the  control  and  management  of  three  Directors  in 
each  of  said  districts,  who  shall  be  elected  annually,  in  the  month  of 
June,  by  the  said  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visitors  of  Common  Schools,  at 
a  regular  meeting,  from  among  the  colored  people  resident  in  such  dis 
tricts  respectively,  and  who  shall  take  an  oath  of  office.  Said  Directors 
shall  hold  their  office  one  year,  or  until  their  successors  shall  be  elected 
and  qualified,  and  vacancies  in  their  number  shall  be  filled  by  said  Trua- 

21 


322 


SCHOOL   FUNDS. 


ored  Schools. 


in  the  same  manner  as  the  property  of  other  persons; 
and  the  separate  schools  now  established  for  the  educa 
tion  of  colored  children  in  said  city,  in  such  districts 
as  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visitors  shall  have  estab 
lished,  shall  continue  until  changed  as  hereinafter  pro 
vided;  and  the  district  schools  so  established  shall  be 
conducted  under  the  control  and  management  of  three 
Directors  of  Col-  Directors  in  each  district,  who  shall  be  elected  annually 

r.r^.l    Q.f*h/\f\la  -  -  •    1  •  1          !•  •  •  1 

from  among  the  residents  in  such  districts  respectively, 
by  the  adult  colored  males  resident  in  such  districts, 
at  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  each  district,  on  the  last 
Monday  in  June  of  each  year,  of  which  public  notice 
of  time  and  place  of  election  shall  be  given,  by  the 
Clerk  of  the  Board,  for  at  least  one  week  previous  to 
each  election,  by  publication  in  a  newspaper  published 
in  said  city;  and  said  Directors,  when  elected,  shall  take 
an  oath  of  office,  and  shall  hold  their  office  one  year, 
or  until  their  successors  shall  be  elected  and  qualified; 
and  vacancies  in  their  numbers  shall  be  filled  by  said 
Directors;  and  they  shall  have  the  care  and  manage 
ment  of  the  schools  and  school  property  of  their 
respective  districts,  appoint  teachers,  and  regulate 
their  salaries,  regulate  the  course  of  studies  and  text 
books,  fix  and  determine  the  times  and  duration  of  such 
schools,  and  the  vacations  thereof,  provide  suitable 
accommodations,  furniture,  and  fuel  for  their  due  main 
tenance,  and  perform  all  the  duties  necessary  for  keeping 
up  such  schools,  and  for  the  government  and  instruction 
of  the  colored  children  of  their  respective  districts  in 


tees  and  Visitors,  and  said  Directors  shall  have  the  care  and  management 
of  the  schools  and  school  property  of  their  respective  districts,  appoint 
teachers,  and  regulate  their  salaries,  regulate  the  course  of  studies  and  text 
books,  fix  and  determine  the  times  and  duration  of  such  schools,  and  the 
racations  thereof,  provide  suitable  accommodations,  furniture,  and  fuel, 
«tc.,  for  their  due  maintenance,  and  perform  all  the  duties  necessary  for 
keeping  up  such  schools,  and  for  the  government  and  instructiou  of  the 
colored  children  of  their  respective  districts  in  such  schools;  said  Direc- 
Dnty  of  Directors,    tors  sliall  cause  a  record  of  their  proceedings  to  be  fairly  kept  in  books, 
•which  they  shall  provide  for  that  purpose,  and  transmit  to  their  succes 
sors;  and  said  Directors  shall  render  accounts  monthly,  in  detail,  of  all 
their  expenditures  or  liabilities,  to  the  said  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visit 
ors  of  Common  Schools,  and,  if  approved  by  said  Hoard,  the  same  shall 
be  paid,  upon  the  order  of  said  Board,  out  Of  the  fund  for  colored  schools 
provided  by  this  act;  and  so  much  of  the  school  funds  of  said  city  as, 
upon  an  equal  distribution  of  the  same  per  capita  under  any  enumera 
tion  required  by  this  act,  would  fall  to  the  share  of  the  colored  children 
of  said  city,  as  ascertained  by  any  such  enumeration,  shall  be  appropri- 
Board  of  Trustees    ate<*  RS  a  'unf*»  subject  to  the  order  of  said  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visit- 
and  Visitors  to    ors«  f°r  the  support  of  said  schools  for  colored  children:    Provided,  that 
control     school    DO  person  shall  be  employed  or  paid,  directly  or  indirectly,  as  teacher 
funds.    Proviso.       or  instructor,  in  any  of  said  schools,  until  he   or  she  shall  first  have 
obtained  from  the  Board  of  Examiners  created  by  this  act,  a  certificate 
of  qualification,  as  to  his  or  her  competency  and  moral  character." 

By  an  act  passed  April  8,  1^56,  this  section  was  again  revised,  and  if 
printed  above  as  now  in  force.     Section  two  of  this  last  amendment  de 
fined  the  words  "colored  persons"  and  "colored   children"  to 
those  who  are  reputed  to  be,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  African  descent. 


SCHOOL   FUNDS. 

said  schools.  Said  Directors  shall  cause  a  record  of 
their  proceedings  to  be  fairly  kept,  in  books  which  they 
shall  provide  for  that  purpose,  and  transmit  to  their 
successors;  and  all  powers  and  duties  conferred  or  im 
posed  upon  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visitors  of  Com 
mon  Schools  in  said  city  by  sections  five,  six,  seven, 
eight,  nine,  ten,  thirteen,  and  fifteen,  of  the  act  entitled 
"  an  act  to  provide  for  the  better  regulation  of  common 
schools  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,"  passed  January  14,  Dutjes  of  Col 

<rt__,  I^T  •     i  f         j         j  •  j    ored  Directors. 

1 853,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  conferred  and  imposed 
upon  said  Board  of  Colored  Directors,  so  far  as  the  same 
are  applicable  to  colored  schools;  and  so  much  of  the 
school  funds  of  said  city,  as,  upon  an  equal  distribution 
of  the  same  per  cap ita,  under  any  enumeration  required 
by  this  act,  as  would  fall  to  the  share  of  the  colored 
children  of  said  city,  as  ascertained  by  any  such  enu 
meration,  shall  be  appropriated  as  a  fund,  subject  to  the 
order  of  said  Board  of  Directors,  for  the  support  of 
said  schools  for  colored  children:  Provided,  that  no 
person  shall  be  employed  or  paid,  directly  or  indirectly, 
as  a  teacher  or  instructor  in  any  of  said  schools,  until 
he  or  she  shall  first  have  obtained  from  the  Board  of 
Examiners,  created  by  this  act,  a  certificate  of  qualifi 
cation  as  to  his  or  her  competency  and  moral  character. 
The  said  Board  of  Directors  for  Colored  Schools  shall, 
on  or  before  the  second  Monday  of  May,  annually  cause 
to  be  certified  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visitors  of 
the  Common  Schools  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  an  esti 
mate  of  the  amount  necessary  for  the  support  of  the 
schools  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Directors  for 
colored  schools;  and  said  Board  of  Trustees  and  Vis-  Fu/?5  ,for,Co1 

•    M  •      i     i          •  i          •  ic-  ored  kcnools. 

itors  shall  include  said  estimate,  or  so  much  ot  it  as 
they  shall  deem  necessary,  in  their  annual  certificate  to 
the  city  Council  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  of  the 
amount  necessary  to  be  raised  for  school  purposes  in 
said  city. 

SEC.  18.  That  the  act  entitled  "  an  act  supplement-  Acts  repealed, 
ary  to  an  act  to  increase  the  number  of  Trustees  and 
Visitors  of  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati, 
and  for  other  purposes,"  passed  March  7,  1837, 
passed  March  12,  1845;  the  act  entitled  "an  act  to 
authorize  the  city  Council  of  Cincinnati  to  levy  taxes 
for  school  purposes,"  passed  February  8,  1847;  the 
act  entitled  "an  act  to  authorize  the  appointment  of 
a  Superintendant  of  Common  Schools  in  Cincinnati, 
and  for  other  purposes,"  passed  March  23,  1850;  sec 
tion  one  of  the  act  entitled  "an  act  for  the  better  organ 
ization  and  classification  of  the  common  schools  of  Cin 
cinnati  and  Dayton,  and  for  other  purposes,"  passed 


824  SCHOOL   FUNDS. 

February  11,  1845,  so  far  as  the  same  relates  to  the 
common  schools. of  the  city  of  Cincinnati;  and  the  act 
entitled  "an  act  to  authorize  the  establishment  of  sep 
arate  schools  for  the  education  of  colored  children, 
and  for  other  purposes,"  passed  February  10,  1849,  so 
far  as  the  same  relates  to  schools  for  colored  children 
in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  be,  and  they  are  hereby 
repealed.* 
When  act  to  SEC.  19.  That  this  act  shall  take  effect,  and  be  in 

take  effect.  force    from    and    after   the    J5th    day  of  March,   A.    D. 

1853. 

JAMES  C.  JOHNSON, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
WILLIAM  MEDILL, 
President  of  the  Senate. 

*  The  act  for  the  organization  of  the  schools  of  Cincinnati,  is  deemed 
of  sufficient  importance  for  insertion  among  the  general  acts  now  in 
force.  See  the  laws  organizing  the  following  special  school  districts. 
Columbus,  XLVI  vol.  stat.  151;  XLIX  vol.  579;  Zanesville,  XLVI 
vol.  54,  XLIX  vol.  570;  Lancaster,  XLVI  vol.  199,  XLVIII  vol.  647; 
Cleveland,  XLVI  vol.  151. 


AN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 


OF 


POPULA.R    EFFORTS 


FOE 


FREE  EDUCATION  II  OHIO; 

WITH 

SKETCHES  OP  THE  CONDITION  OF  COMMON  SCHOOLS 
AT  DIFFERENT  PERIODS. 


Br  WILLIAM    T.    COGGESHALL. 


POPULAR    MOVEMENTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

FIRST  POPULAR  MOVEMENTS— EFFORTS  OF  EPHRAIM 
CUTLER,  CALEB  ATWATER,  AND  NATHAN  GUILFORD. 

LEGISLATION  in  Ohio,  for  Common  Schools,  has  been  the 
result,  mainly,  of  local  influences,  which  created  a  demand, 
more  or  less  general,  for  the  support  or  advancement  of  Public 
Education. 

A  complete  representation  of  the  development  of  the  com 
mon  school  system  of  our  State  must,  therefore,  necessarily 
include  a  fair  record  of  the  labors  and  sacrifices  of  far-seeing 
men,  who  awakened  public  sentiment  and  directed  public 
opinion. 

Republican  legislation,  to  be  enduring,  must  answer  public 
demand.  It  may  be  somewhat  contemplative,  but  if  in  too 
large  a  degree,  it  is  unsafe.  To  be  efficient,  it  need  not  express 
the  indefinite  wish  of  a  majority,  but  it  must  represent  the 
intelligent  will  of  an  influential  minority,  and  be  based  upon 
principles  conducive  to  public  good. 

Though  steadily  opposed  and  often  overruled  by  prejudice 
and  selfishness,  the  legitimate  necessity  of  free  education  for 
all  the  children  of  our  commonwealth,  gradually  gained  re 
cognition  in  Ohio  laws,  and  has  now  executive  fulfillment, 
because  no  legislative  step -for ward  has  been  taken,  without 

(327) 


328  FIRST   POPULAR  MOVEMENTS. 

pressing  demand,  grown  out  of  liberal  foresight  and  well- 
directed  energy  on  the  part  of  a  few  wisely  reflective  men. 

The  purpose  of  this  article  is  to  sketch  the  history  of  the 
popular  movements  which  they  led,  and  indicate  the  effect  of 
those  movements  upon  the  legislation  elsewhere  described  in 
this  book. 

The  school  history  of  our  State  is  distinguished  by  four 
periods : 

FIRST.  Until  1821,  when  the  first  General  Law  was  passed. 

SECOND.  Until  1825,  when  a  School  Fund  by  taxation  was 
authorized. 

THIRD.  Until  1838,  when  a  State  School  Fund  was  created, 
and  the  law  of  1825  revised. 

FOURTH.  Until  1853,  when  a  State  Tax  was  authorized,  and 
the  doctrine  practically  recognized  that  the  property  of  the  State 
should  educate  the  children  of  the  State. 


The  settlement  of  Ohio  was  by  men  who  had  witnessed  the 
advantages  of  common  schools.  In  their  local  government 
they  provided  for  public  instruction.  Their  influence  was 
prominent  in  the  Territorial  Legislature,  and  in  1802,  when 
a  constitutional  Convention  for  Ohio  had  been  called,  Ephraim 
Cutler,  son  of  one  of  the  original  founders  of  the  Marietta 
colony,  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  securing  a  clause  in  the 
organic  law  of  our  State,  which  required  legislative  encour 
agement  of  the  means  of  education. 

The  first  public  allusion  to  education  in  Ohio,  is  found  in 
an  oration  by  Solomon  Drown,  at  Marietta,  in  1789.* 

The  first  memorial  on  behalf  of  the  general  interest  of  public 
schools,  read  in  our  Legislature,  was  proposed  in  1816,  by 
Rev.  Samuel  P.  Robbins,  then  president  of  Marietta  College. 
It  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  three,  in  the  Senate,  but  was 
not  otherwise  acted  upon. 

In  1817,  a  committee  of  the  House  reported  a  bill  in  favor 

*  See  page  72. 


FIKST   POPULAR   MOVEMENTS.  329 

of  so  disposing  of  lands  in  the  Virginia  Military  District,  as 
to  erect  a  building  for,  and  support,  a  public  seminary.  It 
failed  to  become  a  law  on  account  of  opposition  in  the  Senate. 

Between  1802  and  1820,  petitions  and  memorials  respect 
ing  School  Lands  were  urged  upon  every  Legislature  ,  and  a 
variety  of  legislation  for  their  management  and  disposal  was 
had ;  but  there  was  no  general  sentiment  upon  public  schools, 
and  there  was  no  general  legislation. 

From  the  clays  of  the  Territory,  when  Arthur  St.  Clair 
exercised  authority  in  the  executive  office,  up  to  the  period 
just  mentioned  (1820),  our  governors,  in  view  of  growing 
common  school  interests  in  other  States,  and  a  few  local  move 
ments  in  their  own,  strengthened  their  messages  with  recom 
mendations  for  the  promotion  of  public  education ;  but  having 
less  regard  for  gubernatorial  suggestions  than  for  the  clamors 
of  men  who  were  interested  in  diverting  the  proceeds  of  school 
lands  from  their  legitimate  purpose,  no  practical  attention 
was  given  to  the  constitutional  requirement,  by  our  General 
Assembly. 

As  early  as  1816,  influences  in  behalf  of  general  education 
proceeded  from  Cincinnati.  They  were  received  with  favor 
and  were  extended  by  gentlemen  in  Cleveland  and  other 
northern  towns.  Nathan  Guilford  was  their  leading  spirit. 
He  had  then  a  bookstore  in  Cincinnati.  For  the  purpose  of 
advertising  his  business,  and  of  advocating  a  few  favorite 
theories,  he  published  an  almanac.  It  was  edited  by  "Solo 
mon  Thrifty,"  and  was  to  the  West  as  important  a  publica 
tion  as  the  almanac  of  "  Poor  Richard"  had  been  to  the  East. 
During  the  seven  years  in  which  it  was  circulated  by  Mr.  Guil 
ford,  the  course  of  popular  education  was  presented  to  the 
public  in  all  its  practical  bearings.  Every  page  on  which  a* 
paragraph,  a  table  of  statistics,  a  scrap  of  poetry,  a  line  of 
satire,  or  an  argument  for  the  increase  of  knowledge  could 
appear,  was  crowded  with  matter  well  calculated  to  advance 
the  common  school  cause. 

This  almanac  was  not  only  sold,  but  was  circulated  gratui 
tously,  wherever  it  was  known  that  it  would  reach  inquiring 


330  FIBST   POPULAR  MOVEMENTS. 

readers.  Supported  by  private  correspondence,  and  occa 
sionally  by  a  liberal  newspaper,  it  contributed  largely  to  the 
awakening  of  a  public  sentiment  to  which  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  1821-2  deemed  a  response  due.*  That  body  not  only 
passed  the  first  law,  making  provision  for  the  encouragement 
of  schools,  but  it  charged  a  committee  of  five  of  its  members 
with  the  duty  of  considering  and  reporting  upon  school  wants. 
The  little  circle  of  friends  of  popular  education  in  southern 
Ohio,  actively  urged  its  correspondents  to  secure  an  expres 
sion  of  public  sentiment ;  and  numerous  petitions  were  sent  to 
the  General  Assembly,  asking  for  a  liberal  school  system. 
After  considering  these  petitions,  the  committee  of  five  recom 
mended  a  committee  of  seven  Commissioners,  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  who  should  be  instructed  to  acquaint  them 
selves  with  the  school  systems  of  other  States,  and  report  one 
for  Ohio.  This  recommendation  was  accepted  in  January, 
1822,  and  the  Governor  appointed  a  Board  of  Commissioners, 
in  which  Caleb  Atwater,  Ilev.  James  Hoge  and  Ilev.  John 
Collins,  were  the  active  men.  Atwater  was  directed  to  pre 
pare  a  series  of  pamphlets,  urging  the  need  of  increased 
facilities  in  the  State,  for  the  encouragement  of  education  — 
setting  forth  a  plan  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  desired 
purpose,  and  arguing  the  advantages  of  its  adoption.  These 
pamphlets  were  accordingly  published,  and  1500  copies  of 
each  were  circulated.  Mr.  Atwater  devoted  his  whole  time, 
for  the  greater  portion  of  a  year,  to  the  purposes  of  his  com 
mission,  and  was  never  adequately  rewarded.  It  did  not  hap 
pen  that  the  system  agreed  upon  by  the  Commissioners  was 
adopted,  but  Atwater,  Hoge  and  Collins  are  entitled  to  grate 
ful  remembrance  for  what  they  did  toward  awakening  an 
interest,  upon  which  more  was  accomplished  than  they 
deemed  it  advisable  to  recommend.  Their  system  was  based 
upon  that  of  New  York,  and  made  no  provision  for  a  general 
school  revenue,  other  than  might  arise  from  judicious  manage 
ment  of  the  school  lauds. 

*  See  page  122.  t  See  page  131. 


FIRST   POPULAR   MOVEMENTS.  331 

Nathan  Guilford,  who  had  been  appointed  one  of  the  com 
missioners  because  of  his  well  known  interest  in,  and  knowl 
edge  of,  common  schools,  refused  to  co-operate  with  the 
Board.  He  deemed  their  plan  inadequate,  and  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  Commissioners,  in  which  he  presented  the  first 
argument  ever  made  at  length  in  Ohio,  for  a  general  tax  to 
support  common  schools.  This  letter  was  reported  to  the 
Legislature,  and  was  published  by  its  order.  It  contended 
ably  that  the  income  arising  from  lands  could  not  be  adequate 
to  the  support  of  schools  ;  that  the  schools  should  be  free,  and 
that  to  render  them  free  a  tax  ad  valorem  upon  the  property 
of  the  counties  was  required. 

The  following  is  a  significant  paragraph,  which  should  be 
remembered  in  Mr.  Guilford's  honor. 

"  The  funds  arising  from  school  lands  will  not  be  sufficient 
to  educate  properly  one  child  in  ten.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
dilate  upon  the  importance  and  necessity  of  education  in  a 
free  State.  That  the  mass  of  the  people  should  be  well  in 
formed,  and  enabled  to  understand  their  rights  and  the 
policy  of  the  government  under  which  they  live,  is  universally 
acknowledged  by  all  enlightened  and  reflecting  men.  Public 
intelligence  and  public  morals  ought  to  be  the  peculiar  care 
of  every  Eepublic,  and  as  every  man  is  interested  and  benefited, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  political  safety,  good 
morals,  good  order,  intelligence  and  social  happiness  of  the 
community  of  which  he  is  a  member,  he  ought  to  contribute 
freely  to  their  promotion  and  support.  And  the  Legislature, 
as  the  public  guardian,  has  an  unquestioned  right  to  compel 
every  individual,  by  a  tax,  to  bear  his  proportionable  share 
of  the  expense.  And  if  the  means  are  not  otherwise  pro 
vided,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  exercise  that 
right,  and  to  make  such  provision  that  every  child  of  the 
Republic,  whether  rich  or  poor,  should  have  an  opportunity 
of  receiving  a  common,  decent  education." 

The  Legislature  of  1823-4  was  timid.  The  members  were 
not  convinced  that  public  sentiment  demanded  taxation  for 
school  purposes,  and  nothing  was  done  to  promote  public 
instruction.  The  friends  of  education  determined  to  press  the 
question  upon  the  people.  In  the  campaign  of  1824,  the  cause 
of  education  was  discussed,  and  several  well  known  friends 


332  POPULAR  MOVEMENTS. 

of  free  schools  were  elected — Nathan  Guilford  was  chosen  a 
senator  from  Hamilton  county,  and  Ephraim  Cutler  was  elected 
a  senator  from  Washington.  These  men  devoted  themselves 
earnestly  to  the  work  of  convincing  a  majority  of  the  mem 
bers  that  liberal  legislation  for  common  schools  was  required. 
They  succeeded  in  securing  a  committee,*  which  agreed  to  a 
report  and  a  bill,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Guilford.  The  bill 
was  in  fulfillment  of  the  views  Mr.  Guilford  had  expressed  in 
his  letter  of  the  year  previous,  and  it  passed  the  Senate  by  a 
vote  of  twenty-eight  to  eight,  and  was  accepted  by  the  House, 
without  amendment,  in  a  vote  of  forty-six  to  twenty-four. 

Mr.  Guilford  and  Mr.  Cutler  had  worked  against  bitter 
opposition,  with  private  tact  rather  than  public  display,  and 
when  the  final  vote  was  taken  in  the  House,  they  stood  side  by 
side-,  intensely  anxious  concerning  the  result.  They  were  not 
confident  of  the  support  of  several  of  the  members,  and  when 
the  Speaker  announced  that  the  bill  had  a  majority  of  twenty- 
two  votes,  Mr.  Cutler  turned  to  Mr.  Guilford,  and  with  an 
impressive  manner,  in  subdued  tones,  said,  in  the  language 
of  the  Prophet  Simeon, 

"  — Now,  Lord !  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  according 
to  thy  word,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 

When  we  remember  that  Mr.  Cutler  had  been  the  friend  of 
education  in  the  Constitutional  Convention,  and  that  Mr. 
Guilford  had  been  the  foremost  advocate  of  free  schools  for 
seven  or  eight  years,  we  recognize  a  significance  in  the  scene 
which  renders  it  worthy  the  pencil  of  a  great  painter,  f 

For  eleven  years  after  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  February, 
1825,  no  adequate  measures  were  taken  to  make  it  generally 
efficient,  though  almost  every  Legislature  amended  or  modi 
fied  it.  J  In  Cincinnati,  by  means  chiefly  of  zealous  efforts 
on  the  part  of  Nathan  Guilford,  free  schools  of  good  character 
were  established.  Improvement  was  secured  in  the  schools 
of  Cleveland,  Dayton,  and  one  or  two  other  large  towns, 

*  See  page  141.  f  For  the  law,  see  page  142. 

t  See,  from  page  146  to  158. 


POPULAR   MOVEMENTS.  333 

as  well  as  in  some  of  the  second  class  villages,  but  free  schools 
were  enjoyed  nowhere  outside  of  Cincinnati. 

Among  the  men  deserving  particular  regard  in  the  memo 
ries  of  the  recipients  of  the  benefits  of  common  schools  in 
Ohio — whose  names  have  not  appeared  in  these  pages — are, 
Thomas  Morris,  of  Clermont  county,  for  twenty-four  years  a 
legislator,  and  during  one  term  a  United  States'  senator,  and 
Charles  Hammond,  from  1816  to  1821  a  legislator,  and  after 
ward  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette. 

In  1828,  Mr.  Morris,  during  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  said: 

"  To  provide  means  for  the  instruction  of  every  citizen,  is 
a  duty  that  devolves  on  those  who  are  called  to  administer  the 
government.  This  is  not  only  necessary  to  the  safety  and  cor 
rect  administration  of  the  government,  but  for  the  happiness 
of  the  people.  *  *  *  *  Let  us  not  either  overlook  female 
education.  *****  The  instruction  and  cultivation 
which  woman  receives,  has  always  been  justly  viewed  as  evi 
dence  of  the  improved  state  of  society,  where  it  exists.  *  * 
*  *  *  Where  female  virtue,  knowledge  and  intelligence 
abound,  man  can  never  be  degraded  or  a  slave." 

In  1829,  an  institution  called  the  "Academic  Institute," 
held  regular  meetings  in  Cincinnati  for  the  discussion  of  ques 
tions  involving  the  best  interests  of  public  education.  These 
discussions  were  led  by  Albert  Picket  and  Alexander  Kin- 
mont,  both  teachers  and  benefactors.  The  objects  of  the  insti 
tute  were  regarded  with  so  much  favor  that  its  leaders  were 
induced  to  call  a  general  convention  of  the  friends  of  educa 
tion  in  the  Mississippi  valley  in  June,  1831.  At  this  Con 
vention,  discussions  and  addresses  were  given  which  com 
manded  public  attention,  and  an  association  was  formed  called 
"  The  Western  College  of  Teachers."  The  proceedings  of  the 
first  meeting  were  published  in  the  "Academic  Pioneer," 
edited  by  Albert  Picket,  the  first  educational  journal  in  the 
North  West — begun  in  1831  and  continued  about  ten  years. 

The  purpose  of  the  College  of  Teachers  was  announced  to 
be  the  promotion,  by  every  laudable  means,  of  the  diffu 
sion  of  knowledge  in  regard  to  education,  and  especially  by 


334  POPULAR   MOVEMENTS. 

aiming  to  elevate  the  character  and  profession  of  Teachers 
to  their  just  intellectual  and  moral  influence  on  the  com 
munity. 

Albert  Picket,  Alexander  Kinmont,  Samuel  Lewis,  Milo 
G.  Williams,  Daniel  Drake,  Edward  D.  Mansfield,  Calvin  E. 
Stowe,  W.  H.  McGuffee  and  John  L.  Talbott,  were  the  most 
active  men  of  the  College,  but  a  large  number  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  Mississippi  valley  were  its  supporters.  Addresses 
were  delivered,  between  1831  and  1845,  not  only  by  those 
whose  names  have  been  mentioned,  but  by  T.  S.  Grimke,  O. 
M.  Mitchell,  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson,  John  P.  Foote.  Joseph  Ray, 
James  II.  Perkins,  T.  M.  Post  and  others,  upon  subjects  em 
bracing  the  general  as  well  as  the  special  relations  of  educa 
tion.  These  addresses  were  published  in  six  annual  volumes. 
They  have  given  the  College  of  Teachers  a  place  in  the  edu 
cational  history  of  the  West,  to  which  thinking  men  gratefully 
look,  regretting  that,  as  early  as  1840,  the  institution  should 
have  been  suffered  to  languish,  and  five  years  thereafter  cease 
to  exist. 

Upon  the  popular  educational  movement  of  Ohio,  the  Col 
lege  of  Teachers  left  abiding  influence.  Under  its  auspices 
educational  associations  were  formed  in  different  parts  of  the 
State,  and  directly  and  indirectly,  from  its  influence,  was 
awakened  a  popular  interest  which  very  distinctly  demanded 
more  general  and  more  efficient  execution  of  the  law  of  1825, 
as  it  had  been  amended  in  1827-'29  and  '31.*  % 

The  Legislature  of  1835-6,  in  view  of  increasing  popular 
interest  in  the  cause  of  education,  passed  a  resolution,  intro 
duced  by  Liecester  King,  senator  from  Trumbull  county,  on 
behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Schools  and  Colleges,  to  whom 
had  been  referred  a  communication  from  Calvin  E.  Stowe 
(then  a  Professor  in  Lane  Seminary  at  Cincinnati,  about  to 
visit  Europe),  authorizing  him  to  inquire  into,  and  report 
upon,  the  most  forward  School  Systems  of  the  old  World, 

The  thirty-fifth  Legislature  (1S36-7),  understood  more  nearly 

*  See,  from  page  U9  to  159. 


ETC.  335 


what  leading  school-men  required,  and  what  the  School  Sys 
tem  of  the  State  needed,  than  some  of  its  immediate  prede 
cessors,  and  appointed  a  State  School  Superintendent. 


CHAPTER    II. 
LABORS  OF  SAMUEL  LEWIS,  AND  THEIR  RESULTS. 

ALFRED  KELLY,  representative  of  Franklin  county,  introduced 
a  resolution  instructing  the  Standing  Committee  on  Schools 
and  School  Lands,  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  creating 
the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  William 
B.  Van  Hook,  of  Butler  county,  who  was  chairman  of  that 
committee,  reported  on  the  27th  of  January,  1837.  in  favor 
of  the  office,  and  presented  a  bill  defining  the  duties  of  the 
officer.  On  the  10th  of  February  it  passed  the  House  by  one 
majority,  and  on  the  22d  of  March  was  adopted  in  the  Senate. 
Senator  Price,  of  Hamilton  county,  proposed  Samuel  Lewis 
as  the  State  School  officer,  and  on  the  30th  of  March  his  pro 
position  was  accepted  by  the  Senate.  The  following  day  it 
passed  the  House,  and  Samuel  Lewis  became  the  first  Super 
intendent  of  Common  Schools  in  Ohio,  for  one  year,  with  a 
salary  of  $500  per  annum. 

A  law,  authorizing  taxation  for  school  purposes,  and  pro 
viding  for  the  local  management  of  schools,  had  been  in  ope 
ration  eleven  years.  From  1832,  a  School  Fund  had  been 
accumulating  from  the  sale  of  section  sixteen ;  *  it  was  in 
creased  in  1835  by  the  income  of  salt  lands ;  f  and  in  1837 
was  farther  increased  by  the  interest  on  the  surplus  revenue 
of  the  United  States ;  J  and  yet,  in  1837,  there  were  no  free 

*  See  page  154.  -f  See  page  191.  I  See  page  203. 


336  LABORS  OF  SAMUEL  LEWIS,  ETC. 

schools  in  Ohio,  outside  of  Cincinnati ;  and,  excepting  in 
the  larger  towns,  where  private  teachers  were  encouraged, 
but  a  few  schools  afforded,  even  for  three  or  four  months  in  a 
year,  instruction  in  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic.  Profes 
sional  teachers,  who  would  accept  common  schools,  could  be 
found  only  in  the  cities. 

The  children  of  a  greater  portion  of  the  State,  were  under 
the  instruction,  for  one,  two,  three,  four  or  five  mouths  in  a 
year,  of  young  men  who  had  neither  education,  experience 
nor  pride,  adequate  to  the  proper  conduct  of  a  primary  school. 

The  Legislature  of  1835-6,  in  order  to  gain  direct  knowl 
edge  of  the  schools  of  the  State,  required  County  Auditors  to 
report  to  the  State  Auditor  the  number  of  school  children  in 
each  county,  with  such  other  information,  in  reference  to 
schools,  as  might  be  useful.  Only  thirty-three  Auditors  re 
sponded  to  that  law,  and  their  returns  were  so  meager  and 
unreliable  as  to  be  altogether  unsatisfactory. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  Mr.  Lewis  hesitated  to  accept  the 
office  of  Superintendent,  but  he  was  pressiugly  urged,  and 
his  reluctance  was  overcome.  He  entered  upon  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  with  zeal  and  steady  purpose ;  and  spent  the 
spring,  summer,  and  part  of  the  fall  of  1837,  sending  circu 
lars  to  County  Auditors,  traveling  on  horseback  from  county 
to  county,  delivering  addresses,  talking  with  school  officers, 
visiting  schools,  and  encouraging  teachers.  lie  traveled  over 
twelve  hundred  miles,  and  visited  three  hundred  schools.  Ilia 
first  report  was  made  in  December,  1837.  By  a  resolution 
of  the  General  Assembly,  Mr.  Lewis  read  it  to  the  members 
at  two  evening  sessions.  It  was  a  clear  picture  of  the  deplora 
ble  condition  of  schools ;  an  emphatic  presentation  of  public 
sentiment  in  favor  of  free  education ;  an  exposition  of  tho 
abuse  of  school  lauds,  and  an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of 
more  liberal  legislation  than  had  been  witnessed  in  Ohio. 

Mr.  Lewis  recommended : 

School  Libraries ; 

A  State  School  Fund,  of  $200,000 ; 

Township  High  Schools ; 


LABORS    OF    SAMUEL   LEWIS,  ETC.  337 

Town  Boards  of  Education ; 

Evening  Schools  in  towns  and  cities ; 

County  Superintendents ; 

A  School  Journal,  to  be  distributed  to  school  officers  gratui 
tously  ; 

Encouragement  for  the  formation  of  Teachers'  Associations ; 

Authority  for  districts  to  borrow  money  to  erect  school- 
houses  ; 

The  employment  of  women  as  teachers ; 

Full  reports  from  teachers  and  school  officers. 

In  support  of  these  recommendations,  Mr.  Lewis  had  spoken 
throughout  the  State  with  rare  eloquence,  and  as  the  result  of 
his  observations,  he  said  to  the  Legislature : 

"The  thousands  with  whom  I  have  conversed,  of  all  classes 
and  in  all  departments  of  life,  are  unanimous,  and  they  represent 
their  neighbors  as  unanimous,  in  favor  of  efficient  and  active 
measures,  on  the  part  of  the  Legislature,  for  the  promotion  of 
Common  Schools.  I  have  heard  of  persons  and  of  neighbor 
hoods,  that  were  said  to  be  opposed  to  such  a  course ;  but  on 
visiting  such  persons  and  places,  the  objections  were  found  to 
be  not  against  proper  legal  provision  for  these  schools,  but 
against  particular  details  in  the  law.  Complaints  against 
defects  are  often  erroneously  put  down  by  lookers  on,  as  oppo 
sition  to  the  law,  when  in  fact  the  complainers  are  its  most 
ardent  friends,  and  in  favor  of  the  most  active  measures.  It 
is  one  way  of  making  a  friend  of  reform  odious,  by  repre 
senting  his  complaints  as  opposition.  I  have  not  found  an 
individual  that,  for  himself,  objected  to  the  expense,  provided 
the  schools  are  made  good."  *  *  * 

u  Whatever  I  may  be  compelled  to  say  of  the  present  con 
dition  of  schools,  they  are  certainly  improving  everywhere  in 
the  State.  In  many  counties,  associations  are  formed  of 
teachers  and  friends  of  learning,  to  promote  this  object;  and 
the  education  of  the  masses  is  a  marked  feature  in  all  discus 
sions  and  reports.  Nothing  will  rally  the  people  more  readily 
than  the  discussion  of  subjects  connected  with  education. 
Still,  leaving  Cincinnati  for  the  present  out  of  the  question, 
there  are  but  very  few  places  in  the  State  where  common 
school  instruction  proper  is  furnished  approaching  near  the 
grade  we  have  supposed ;  that  is,  where  the  means  of  proper 
instruction  are  free  to  all,  rich  and  poor,  on  equal  terms. 
The  city  of  Cleveland  has,  within  a  few  months,  commenced 
22 


338  LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,  ETC. 

organizing  her  free  schools  on  principles  which,  if  carried  out 
to  the  extent  demanded  in  that  flourishing  place,  will  dis 
tinguish  her  on  the  list  of  free  school  cities ;  but  even  there 
the  provision  is  not  half  enough,  and  the  schools  have  from 
fifty  to  eighty  children  to  the  teacher."  *  *  *  * 

"In  towns  and  large  villages,  the  common  schools  are 
poorer  than  in  the  country.  In  the  latter,  neighborhoods 
depend  more  on  them,  and  of  course  take  a  deeper  interest  in 
their  control ;  while  in  the  former  there  is  too  frequently  but 
little  attention  paid  to  these  schools,  by  persons  able  to  pro 
vide  other  means  of  instruction.  Private  schools  are  consid 
ered  the  best,  and  being  patronized  by  the  wealthy,  create  a 
distinction  that  is  ruinous.  I  am  unwilling  to  repeat  the 
remarks,  in  reference  to  this  point,  that  I  have  often  heard 
made ;  it  may  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  in  many  instances  the 
whole  tendency  is  to  bring  the  schools  into  disrepute,  if  not 
positive  disgrace."-  ***** 

"  The  result  is,  that  so  far  as  common  schools  proper  ex 
tend,  though  there  are  many  good  schools  and  good  teachers, 
and  a  great  amount  of  money  expended,  yet  for  want  of  a 
proper  system  by  which  the  educational  labors  of  the  State 
may  be  concentrated,  so  as  to  unite  economy  with  efficiency, 
nothing  like  proper  means  of  instruction  are  afforded ;  and 
there  is  left  a  class,  by  no  means  small,  who  either  get  no 
learning  at  all,  or  get  so  little  and  in  so  defective  a  manner 
and  under  so  many  forbidding  circumstances,  that  it  does  but 
little  if  any  good."  ***** 

"  Where  the  schools  are  kept  free  in  this  State,  they  flourish 
best.  In  Cincinnati  they  have  marched  steadily  forward, 
overcoming  every  difficulty,  and  the  people  look  upon  them 
as  the  most  valuable  of  their  privileges."  *  *  "From 
my  knowledge  of  public  opinion  in  this  State,  and  especially 
of  practical  men,  I  have  no  doubt  that  four-fifths  are  in  favor 
of  this  kind  of  schools,  and  will  heartily  approve  such  measures 
as  may  be  required  to  establish  and  sustain  them.  These 
schools  must  be  made  good,  we  repeat,  as  well  as  free.  Reason 
on  theories  as  we  may,  they  will  never  controvert  facts  and 
experience.  These  prove  that  the  only  way  to  make  free  or 
common  schools  useful,  is  to  make  those  who  support  them 
interested  therein.  The  people  say,  they  expect  efficient  meas 
ures.  They  think  it  a  favorable  time  to  revise,  improve  and 
render  permanent  the  system ;  and  they  desire  that  early  and 
efficient  measures  may  be  taken  lo  give  general  circulation  to 
the  law,  so  that  they  can  be  early  made  acquainted  with  its 
provisions,  and  conform  their  action  thereto;  and  though 


LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,  ETC.  339 

they  do  not  expect  perfection,  they  say  they  can  gradually 
overcome  the  difficulties  better  than  to  have  frequently  to 
change  their  mode  of  proceeding." 

The  General  Assembly  to  which  the  School  Superintendent 
thus  addressed  himself,  was  composed  chiefly  of  good  men. 
Among  its  members  were  several  prominent  individuals  who 
have  since  been  the  public  servants  of  our  people  in  the 
highest  places  for  which  our  Constitution  provides.  In  the 
Senate  were  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  David  A.  Starkweather,  and 
Leicester  King ;  in  the  House,  Seabury  Ford,  William  Medill, 
Nelson  Barrere,  Alfred  Kelly,  Otway  Curry,  James  J.  Farran, 
William  B.  Thrall,  W.  Trevitt,  and  John  A.  Foote. 

A  disposition  to  accept  the  recommendations  of  Mr.  Lewis 
was  evident  early  in  the  session.  His  report  was  favorably 
received  by  the  people,  and  its  characteristics  were  commended 
by  leading  newspapers. 

W.  B.  Yan  Hook  was  chairman  of  the  school  committee  of 
the  House  of  Representatives.  He  was  a  personal  friend 
of  Mr.  Lewis,  as  well  as  a  public  friend  of  public  education ; 
and  accepting  Mr.  Lewis's  views  as  those  of  a  wise  and  well 
informed  man,  he  reported  to  the  committee  a 'bill  embodying 
nearly  all  of  his  recommendations.  That  bill  was  introduced 
to  the  House  on  the  5th  of  February,  1838.  It  was  discussed 
with  earnestness  and  bitterly  opposed,  but  on  the  17th  of  Feb 
ruary,  passed  by  a  vote  of  46  yeas  to  20  nays. 

When  it  went  to  the  Senate,  important  questions  were 
raised  upon  the  manner  of  providing  a  State  School  Fund  of 
$200,000.  The  Finance  Committee  was  instructed  to  report 
upon  it,  and  John  H.  James  of  Champaign  county,  chairman 
of  that  committee,  reported  that  it  must  be  raised  from  the 
following  sources: 

Interest  on  the  U.  S.  Deposit  Fund, $100,350 

"     Fund  from  Salt  Lands, 2,100 

Tax  on  Banks,  etc., 48,000 

150,450 
To  be  provided  for  by  general  property  tax, 50,000 

$200,450 


34:0  LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,  ETC. 

This,  it  was  reported,  as  the  bill  then  stood,  would  make 
the  school  tax 

In  Counties, 2  mills, 

For  State 1     " 

3  mills, 

Making  the  burden  of  taxation,  in  the  aggregate,  8J  mills, 
independent  of  local  taxation. 

This  presented  a  formidable  obstacle  to  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  but  after  slight  amendment  it  passed  the  Senate  on  the 
3d  of  March,  by  a  vote  of  21  yeas  to  13  nays.  The  House 
concurred  in  the  Senate  amendments,  and  on  the  7th  of 
April,  1838,  the  law  was  in  force.* 

The  salary  of  the  Superintendent  had  been  increased  to 
$1,200,  and  his  term  extended  to  five  years,  for  which  Mr. 
Lewis  was  elected.  Mr.  Lewis  was  Superintendent  of  Schools 
during  the  years  1837,  1838  and  1839. 

In  1838  he  published  six  numbers  of  an  official  journal 
called  "  The  Ohio  School  Director,"  visited  a  majority  of  the 
counties  of  the  State,  delivered  public  addresses  in  nearly  every 
county  town  and  in  most  of  the  cities,  and  to  the  General 
Assembly  reported  not  only  upon  the  condition  of  the  schools 
of  the  State  and  their  needs,  but  made  an  elaborate  report  in 
answer  to  resolutions  of  the  previous  Legislature,  asking  in 
formation  upon  the  propriety,  costs,  etc.,  of  establishing  a 
State  Seminary  for  Teachers  at  Columbus.  These  resolutions 
were  offered  by  Mr.  Van  Hook,  of  Butler.  It  passed  on  the 
19th  of  March,  1838. 

The  following  extracts  from  Mr.  Lewis's  Second  Annual 
Report,  give  a  sketch  of  his  labors  in  1838,  and  a  just  picture 
of  the  schools  in  that  year,  as  well  as  a  clear  representation 

*0n  page  158,  a  paragraph  fails  to  do  justice  to  this  law.  It  ought  to 
have  been  there  published.  It  was  not  a  mere  revision  of  previous  laws, 
but  comprised  important  new  features,  as  the  statement  of  Mr.  Lewis's 
recommendations,  which  were  adopted,  shows.  It  would  be  published 
here  in  full,  but  from  the  fact,  that  the  chapter  on  the  laws,  from  1831  to 
1851,  beginning  page  187,  contains  its  chief  points. 


LABORS   OF   SAMUEL    LEWIS,    ETC.  341 

of  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  public  sentiment  respecting 
free  education. 

"  As  the  law  was  in  some  of  its  provisions  entirely  new, 
and  many  inquiries  were  made  on  the  subject,  it  was  generally 
desired  that  public  addresses  should  be  delivered,  which  was 
done  in  most  of  the  counties  through  which  I  passed.  Op 
portunity  was  afforded  me  of  conversing  with  different  school 
officers  and  citizens,  as  well  as  visiting  a  great  number  of 
schools,  where  I  could  not  only  observe  what  was  doing,  and 
upon  what  principles,  but  also  the  general  state  of  education 
throughout  our  country.  *  *  *  *  *  *  These  labors, 
with  the  various  other  duties  of  the  department,  have  occu 
pied  all  my  time,  and  have  enabled  me,  I  think,  to  under 
stand  the  condition  of  schools  in  the  several  counties,  and 
what  further  is  required  to  supply  the  demand,  and  comply 
with  the  wishes  of  the  people.  ********* 
*  *  From  all  the  information  thus  derived,  I  have  no  doubt 
that  a  large  majority  of  the  people  are  in  favor  of,  and  compara 
tively  but  few  opposed  to,  the  present  law.  But  time  enough 
has  not  elapsed  to  enable  the  warmest  friends  to  have  wit 
nessed  the  full  operation  of  the  present  system ;  it  is  new,  and 
aims  at  reducing  to  order,  harmony  and  usefulness,  a  depart 
ment  admitted  by  all  to  have  had  neither  order  nor  harmony, 
and  comparatively  but  little  usefulness.  It  was  with  two- 
thirds  of  those  wrho  were  active,  a  new  work,  and  in  many 
places  an  arduous  one ;  the  duties,  in  many  cases,  being  left 
to  be  performed  by  officers  elected  for  other  purposes.  Though 
the  law  was  in  force  from  the  first  of  April,  yet,  as  it  continued 
the  former  directors  in  office,  they  were  almost  uniformly 
governed  by  the  old  law,  and  were  so  in  fact  from  necessity, 
as  in  four-fifths  of  the  districts  they  had  no  funds  to  allow  any 
more  than  ordinary  arrangements  to  be  made."  *  *  *  * 

"  Hitherto  the  burdens  of  the  law  only  have  been  known, 
and  yet,  we  can  not  shut  our  eyes  to  the  facts  that  meet  us 
everywhere,  proving  beyond  cavil,  that  the  year  1838  has 
witnessed  a  more  rapid  and  extensive  development  of  public 
enterprise  and  effective  action  for  common  schools,  than  has 
been  known  at  any  former  period.  Letters  from  county  audi 
tors  and  other  officers,  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  furnish 
the  most  encouraging  information  and  abundant  evidence  that 
the  work  is  progressing  as  rapidly  as  its  most  ardent  friends 
could  have  expected."  ***** 

"  Every  possible  variety  is  found  in  the  character  of  the 
teachers,  and  the  kind  and  manner  of  instruction.  There  is 
this  encouragement,  however,  the  people  are  very  generally 


342  LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,   ETC. 

convinced  of  present  defects,  and  seem  determined  to  remedy 
the  evils.  There  are  but  few  places  where  a  teacher  can  bo 
employed,  who  does  not  pretty  well  understand  English  gram 
mar  and  geography,  in  addition  to  reading,  writing  and  arith 
metic.  One  error  still  prevails  to  a  ruinous  extent ;  namely, 
the  neglect  of  cultivating  and  developing  the  powers  of  the 
mind,  while  every  thing  is  attempted  to  be  done  by  taxing 
memory  with  the  weight  of  names  and  abstractions,  allowing 
no  play  for  thought,  and  exciting  no  interest  whatever  in  the 
child's  mind."  ****** 
"  It  may  be  said  with  truth,  that  Ohio  does  not  (except  in 
a  few  cases)  furnish  instruction  for  females,  at  all  adapted  to 
their  sphere  in  life,  or  such  as  will  be  likely  to  elevate  their 
views,  refine  their  taste,  and  cultivate  that  delicacy  of  senti 
ment  and  propriety  of  conduct,  which  the  good  of  the  country, 
no  less  than  their  own  happiness,  requires." 
*  ***  **** 

"  In  a  large  part  of  our  county  towns,  votes  have,  within  a 
few  months,  been  taken  to  raise  from  $3,000  to  $6,000  for 
school-houses,  and  in  other  places  measures  are  in  progress 
to  determine  on  the  proper  plan  preparatory  to  action.  lu 
the  country  districts,  too,  this  work  is  progressing.  In  many 
places  where  efforts  have  been  made  for  years,  heretofore 
unsuccessfully,  votes,  this  year,  have  been  taken  with  great 
unanimity.  Nothing  is  hazarded  in  saying,  that  at  least  one 
thousand  school-houses  have  been  built,  and  are  now  building, 
under  the  new  law ;  mostly  brick  or  frame,  and  many  of  them 
of  a  superior  kind,  exhibiting  good  taste  and  ample  accom 
modation. 

"  Individuals  are  sometimes  loud  in  their  opposition,  but 
when  the  questions  are  tested  by  popular  votes  the  measures 

are  carried  by  overwhelming  majorities." 

******** 

"It  is  proper  to  notice  particularly  the  school  system 
adopted  in  Cincinnati.  That  city  is  laid  out  into  districts 
containing  a  large  number  of  children  in  each ;  houses  are 
built  in  the  several  districts  large  enough  to  contain  three 
hundred  scholars  and  upward:  there  are  male  and  female 
teachers  in  each  house,  and  classing  is  adopted  to  a  consider 
able  extent.  All  the  English  branches  are  taught  that  are 
usual  in  our  best  English  schools,  and  without  drawing  in 
vidious  distinctions,  it  may  be  said  that,  as  a  class  of  schools, 
they  are  good.  The  rich  and  poor  send  their  children,  and 
though  there  are  many  private  schools  in  the  city,  they  civate 
no  division  of  feeling  or  interest.  The  officers  are  very  care- 


LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,    ETC.  343 

ful  in  their  supervision,  as,  indeed,  the  public  require  them  to 
be.  The  increase  of  funds  provided  last  winter  enables  them 
to  extend  their  labors,  and  every  year  increases  the  interest 
felt  by  the  people  in  these  institutions  ;  they  are,  in  fact,  the 
peculiar  favorites  of  the  whole  community.  Cleveland  has, 
during  the  last  year,  extended  her  system  as  nearly  on  the 
same  plan  as  she  can  without  large  buildings.  Steubenville, 
Warren,  Newark,  Portsmouth,  Dayton,  Chillicothe,  Lebanon, 
and  many  other  towns,  have  already  voted  the  money  for  erect 
ing  houses  of  the  same  kind,  and  some  even  more  commodi 
ous.  Some  towns  are  peculiary  situated,  and  should  have 
special  regulations  for  their  government,  among  which  is 
Zanesville."  *  *  *  *  * 

"  For  the  first  time  in  our  State  has  the  law  required  the 
schools  to  be  free,  or  furnished  the  means  to  defray  the  ex 
pense,  and  even  yet,  the  directors  are  hardly  willing  to  risk 
the  employment  of  teachers,  because  they  do  not  know  the 
amount  coming  to  them ;  and  yet  it  is  a  principle  so  entirely 
new,  that,  while  they  almost  unanimously  approve  of  it,  they 
are  doubtful  of  the  result.  The  year  1839  will,  I  am  confi 
dent,  dissipate  their  doubts,  and  thenceforth  they  will  never 
suffer  the  support  of  these  schools  to  be  withdrawn.  The 

direct  benefits  of  the  present  law  have  not  yet  begun  to  be 
fe}£ "  *  *  *  *  '  *  * 

"  There  are  some  townships  that  have  the  means  and  a  desire 
of  establishing  central  township  schools  or  academies,  and  in 
most  of  our  townships  the  youth  over  twelve  years  of  age 
could  with  convenience  attend  such  a  school.  The  number 
of  townships  now  prepared  for  this  measure  is  small  but  will 
be  increasing."  ***** 

"The  people  have  not  heretofore  followed  any  particular 
system.  The  directors  of  each  district  have  done  that  which 
was  right  in  their  own  eyes,  and  generally  adopted,  as  far  as 
they  could,  the  particular  system  of  the  State  from  whence 
they  came.  There  was  not  enough  energy  in  the  law  to  cre 
ate  much  action  or  interest ;  and,  what  the  law  was,  did  not 
so  much  concern  them,  nor  was  it  scanned  critically  by  any 
one,  or  at  least,  but  by  few.  Now  every  man  is  interested, 
and  every  man  is  more  or  less  active  in  examining  the  law 
with  scrutiny.  They  are  but  just  beginning  the  work  under 
it.  Actual  experience  proves,  that  it  has  roused  the  whole 
State  on  the  subject  of  education,  and  has  produced,  and  is 
producing,  inquiry  and  action  on  the  part  of  the  people  a  hun 
dred  fold  beyond  any  former  period.  The  pleasing  and  en 
couraging  part  of  this  activity  is,  that  it  is  all  progressive,  it 


344  LABORS    OF    SAMUEL    LEWIS,    ETC. 

nowhere  goes  back ;  it  is  in  extension  of  popular  rights  and 
privileges ;  the  people,  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  conferred 
on  them,  build  school-houses  and  sustain  all  other  measures 
required,  in  lull  expectation  that  they  are  now  to  have  free 
schools  provided  by  the  law  for  the  education  of  all  their 
children.  ****** 

"  It  is  the  almost  unanimous  wish  of  the  people  that  no 
amendment  should  be  made  affecting  any  essential  principle 
or  practice.  {Stability  is  now  greatly  needed,  and  to  introduce 
material  changes,  would  be  going  back  and  beginning  anew." 

Mr.  Lewis's  report  on  a  State  University,  contained  much 
that  is  of  interest  to  all  who  desire  to  form  a  conception  of 
what  our  schools  have  been.  We  subjoin  several  extracts. 
It  answered  the  first  action  in  the  General  Assembly,  which 
contemplated  a  State  School  for  the  practical  instruction  of 
those  designing  to  teach ;  and  Mr.  Lewis  not  only  argued  with 
force  the  need  of  schools  to  teach  the  art  of  teaching,  but  he 
suggested  Teachers'  Institutes,  and  stating  what  common 
schools  ought  to  be,  very  nearly  described  the  graded  schools 
now  popular  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  Ohio. 

"The  general  representation  of  persons  in  every  county, 
proves  that  there  is  not  a  sufficient  number  of  teachers  to 
answer  the  demand  of  the  twelve  thousand  schools  required 
to  be  taught;  and  we  include  now  all  that  teach  or  desire  to 
teach,  good  and  bad ;  if  the  examiners  could  see  any  prospect 
of  procuring  good  teachers,  they  would  reject  one-third  of  tho 
number  that  now  receive  certificates,  but  they  arc  compelled 
to  give  men  and  women  certificates  of  qualification  against 
their  own  judgment,  because,  if  they  are  rigid,  the  districts 
must  go  without  schools.  Directors,  too,  are  compelled  to  em 
ploy  teachers  having  the  lowest  class  of  certificates,  because 
they  can  not  get  such  as  they  wish. 

"  There  are  in  this  State  a  large  number  of  teachers,  both 
male  and  female,  that  are  well  qualified.  In  general,  the 
females  are  better  qualified  than  the  males ;  but  the  number 
of  those  of  either  sex  that  are  well  qualified,  bears  no  pro 
portion  to  the  number  required.  If  reliance  can  be  placed 
on  the  accounts  we  receive  (and  there  can  not,  it  is  believed, 
be  any  doubt  of  their  correctness),  not  more  than  one  half  of 
those  engaged  in  teaching  are  even  tolerably  qualified  for  the 
business.  On  this  point  a  great  variety  of  evidence  could  be 
produced,  but  the  statement  will  be  admitted,  because  almost 


LABORS  OF  SAMUEL  LEWIS,  ETC.  345 

every  man,  from  his  own  observation,  knows  it  to  be  true. 
At  the  present  time,  incompetent  teachers  are  doing  more 
harm  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  more  effectually  hinder 
ing  the  introduction  of  good  schools,  on  a  good  system,  than 
all  other  influences  put  together.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find 
teachers  complaining  of  a  law  that  requires  them  to  keep 
records  and  make  quarterly  reports,  simply  because  they  have 
not  sufficient  business  knowledge  to  perform  the  work.  Those 
who  despair  of  perfecting  our  school  system,  urge  the  defective 
character  of  teachers,  as  the  strongest  evidence  to  sustain  their 
views,  alleging  that  we  have  no  sufficient  mode  of  securing  a 
better  class  of  teachers,  without  which  the  character  and  use 
fulness  of  the  schools  can  not  be  elevated  to  the  rank  that  the 
majority  of  the  community  aspire  to."  *  *  * 

"Poor  teachers,  and  penurious  men,  are  ever  averse  to  rais 
ing  the  standard  of  education ;  and  they  labor  hard  to  create 
an  impression  that  the  rights  of  the  people  are  infringed  by 
requiring  teachers  to  possess  certain  qualifications  before  they 
can  draw  public  money,  for  services  in  this  department." 

Arrangements  had  been  made  by  the  Directory  of  the  Col 
lege  of  Teachers  for  a  State  Educational  Convention  at  Colum 
bus  in  1837,  but  the  first  convention,  at  which  the  different 
sections  of  the  State  were  represented,  was  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  College  in  December,  1838.  Mr.  Lewis,  in 
his  addresses,  had  urged  upon  teachers  and  school  officers  the 
necessity  of  attending  the  convention,  and  had  published  earn 
est  appeals  for  it  in  the  School  Director.  Between  eighty  and 
ninety  delegates  were  present.  Wilson  Shannon,  then  Gov 
ernor,  was  elected  President,  and  Milo  G.  Williams  first  Yice 
President.  Addresses  were  delivered  by  D.  Pearce,  then  Presi 
dent  of  Western  Reserve  College ;  W.  II.  McGuffey  (who  had 
accompanied  Mr.  Lewis,  during  the  autumn  of  1838,  and  de 
livered  lectures  in  several  northern  counties),  and  Calvin  E. 
Stowe.  Discussions  were  had  upon  important  resolutions,  in 
which  leading  educational  men  from  different  parts  of  the 
State  engaged.  These  resolutions,  vigorously  indorsed  Mr. 
Lewis  as  State  Superintendent,  recommended  formal  Schools, 
urged  the  cultivation  of  Music  in  the  common  schools,  and 
appealed  to  the  people  for  earnest  support  of  the  school  law. 

The  Convention,  conducted  as  it  was  by  the  men  of  most 


346  LABORS    OF    SAMUEL    LEWIS,    ETC. 

prominence  at  that  time,  in  colleges  and  schools,  had  decided 
influence,  but  the  election  for  the  General  Assembly  had 
already  taken  place,  and  several  men  of  known  hostility  to 
the  school  law  had  been  chosen.  Early  in  the  session  of 
1838-9,  efforts  were  made  to  destroy,  in  a  considerable  degree, 
the  efficiency  of  the  school  system. 

A  semi-monthly  paper,  entitled  the  Pestalozzian,  by  E.  L. 
Sawtell  and  H.  K.  Smith,  started  in  April,  1838,  at  Akron, 
Summit  county,  had  ably  supported  Mr.  Lewis  and  the  school 
system.  Conventions  had  been  held  in  a  number  of  counties, 
which  resolved  against  any  decided  change,  and  under  those 
influences,  men  had  been  elected  who  did  not  fear  to  declare 
a  determination  to  resist  any  measures  which  would  retard 
school  progress.  Mr.  Lewis  knew  that  there  was  to  be  a 
warm  contest,  and  he  devoted  himself  night  and  day  to  the 
task  of  saving  the  law. 

The  School  Committee  consisted,  in  the  House,  of  J.  E. 
Hanna  of  Morgan,  Erastus  Chester  of  Ashtabula,  Lcverett 
Johnson  of  Cuyahoga,  Elisha  Garrett  of  Portage,  Israel  Brown 
of  Hamilton ;  in  the  Senate,  of  Simeon  Fuller  of  Cuyahoga, 
Aaron  llaiian  of  Green,  and  Benjamin  F.  Wade  of  Ash- 
tabula. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  1838,  Mr.  Johnson,  representa 
tive  of  Stark,  offered  a  resolution  to  abolish  the  office  of  Su 
perintendent,  reduce  the  county  tax  to  one  mill,  and  make 
the  duties  of  School  Directors  less  onerous.  The  resolution 
was  laid  on  the  table. 

Petitions  to  repeal  the  law,  forwarded  from  a  small  number 
of  counties,  had  been  referred  to  the  Standing  committee  in 
the  House.  Mr.  Hanna,  from  that  committee,  reported  against 
the  prayer  of  the  petitioners ;  argued  that  education  should 
be  furnished  by  the  State;  that  a  Superintendent  was  indis 
pensable,  and  hoped  the  law  would  only  be  amended  so  as  to 
give  German  pupils  an  opportunity  to  attend  schools  taught 
in  their  own  language. 

Mr.  Spangler,  senator  from  Fairfield  and  Hocking,  moved 
to  abolish  the  office  of  Superintendent.  John  H.  James  of 


ETO.  347 

Champaign,  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the  table ;  which 
was  lost,  and  the  question  on  the  motion  to  abolish  it,  was 
lost,  nays  24,  yeas  8. 

In  the  House,  a  motion  to  abolish  the  office  of  Superintend 
ent,  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  29  yeas  to  34  nays.  A  motion  by  Mr. 
Milliken  of  Butler,  to  destroy  the  State  School  Fund,  was  lost 
by  a  large  majority;  and  the  vote,  on  a  motion  by  John 
Brough  of  Fairfield,  to  release  township  superintendents, 
failed,  33  to  37.  A  motion  by  Mr.  Johnson  of  Stark,  to 
make  the  Auditor  of  State,  School  Superintendent,  was  lost 
by  a  vote  of  33  to  36 ;  but  a  motion  by  the  same  gentleman 
to  reduce  the  county  tax  to  one  mill,  was  carried  in  the  House, 
43  to  19.  Attempts  were  made  repeatedly  to  postpone  all 
further  action,  but  the  friends  of  the  school  system  were  firm, 
and  when  the  General  Assembly  adjourned,  the  school  law 
stood  as  passed  the  year  previous,  excepting,  that  the  School 
Director  was  suspended;  County  Commissioners  were  allowed 
to  reduce  the  county  tax  to  one  mill,  and  were  authorized  to 
excuse  township  clerks  from  acting  as  school  superintendents ; 
but  evening  schools  in  towns  were  provided  for ;  equal  privi 
leges  secured  to  all  white  youth,  and  the  borrowing  money  for 
the  building  of  school-houses,  ordered  to  be  paid  by  taxation. 

The  law  of  1838,  as  amended  in  1839,  contained  all  of  the 
important  recommendations  urged  by  Mr.  Lewis,  excepting 
township  libraries  and  county  superintendents. 

The  Superintendent's  health  had  been  impaired  by  severe 
exposure  and  arduous  labor,  and  he  was  obliged  to  announce 
that  he  could  not  canvass  the  State  in  1839  as  he  had  in  1838. 
He  immediately  addressed  circulars  to  county  auditors,  an- 
nouncing  the  changes  in  the  school  law,  and  appealed  to 
county  commissioners  not  to  reduce  the  tax. 

During  1839,  he  delivered  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  pub 
lic  addresses,  but  he  discussed  important  questions  bearing 
upon  the  practical  advantages  of  education,  and  the  means 
by  which  they  were  to  be  secured,  in  a  series  of  model  circu 
lars,  which  were  widely  published  in  the  city  and  county 
newspapers.  His  arguments  in  defense  of  the  school  law 


3-1:8  LABORS   OF   SAMUEL    LEWIS,   ETC. 

were  clear  and  cogent ;  and  his  appeals  to  the  people,  based 
upon  interests  which  they  could  see  and  appreciate,  had  per 
manent  influence. 

A  monthly  paper  called  the  "  Common  School  Advocate," 
was  published  at  Cincinnati.  More  educational  conventions 
were  held  in  the  different  counties  than  had  been  before 
known,  and  the  number  of  educational  associations  was 
largely  increased. 

A  State  Convention,  called  by  the  College  of  Teachers  in 
December,  1839,  was  more  numerously  attended  than  any 
previous  one,  and  was  more  interesting  than  any  of  its  prede 
cessors.  Mr.  Lewis  delivered  an  address  upon  the  history  of 
common  schools  and  their  effects  upon  pecuniary  interest. 
W.  II.  McGuffey  lectured  upon  the  influence  of  private  opinion 
on  common  schools ;  Warren  Jenkins,  upon  the  school  laws 
of  Ohio;  and  Milo  G.  Williams,  upon  "Cabinets  of  natural 
science  in  common  schools." 

Governor  Shannon,  appreciating  what  was  being  done  for 
common  schools,  deprecated  any  radical  change  in  the  law,* 
but  the  opposition  which  had  been  manifested  in  the  Legisla 
ture  of  the  previous  winter,  had  accumulated  during  the  sum 
mer  and  fall,  notwithstanding  increased  school  interest  in 
many  counties.  This  opposition,  as  Mr.  Lewis  said  in  one 
of  his  circulars,  sprang,  for  the  most  part,  from  men  who  had 
not  read  the  law,  or  who  had  studied  it  in  order  to  misrepre 
sent  its  features.  But  it  had  opponents  also  among  school 
officers  who  were  unwilling  to  discharge  the  duties  imposed 
upon  them,  and  among  school  teachers  who  were  incompetent 
to  meet  its  requirements.  The  General  Assembly  had  in  it 
a  majority  which  represented  opposition  to  important  features 
of  the  school  system. 

Mr.  Lewis  presented  his  third  annual  report,  on  the  24th 
of  December,  and  resigned  his  office.  It  was  not  as  elaborate 
as  either  of  the  previous  documents  from  the  school  depart 
ment,  but  was  able  and  interesting. 

*  See  page  168. 


LABORS    OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,  ETC.  349 

So  much  of  it  as  relates  to  the  labors  of  the  Superintendent, 
and  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  schools,  is  subjoined : 

"It  has  heretofore  been  a  reproach  to  our  State,  that  suffi 
cient  provision  was  not  made  for  the  education  of  the  poor, 
and  it  was,  as  late  as  last  winter,  declared,  that  such  pro 
vision  was  not  even  then  made."  *  * 

"In  a  considerable  part  of  the  State,  the  funds  allow  a  free 
school  to  be  taught,  for  all  the  youth,  from  four  to  nine 
months  in  the  year,  and  where  there  is  a  deficiency,  it  is  paid 
by  those  .who  are  able."  * 

"Whatever  we  may  find  to  cause  regret  to  the  patriot  or 
Christian,  by  reason  of  deficiency  in  quantity  and  quality  of 
education,  or  whatever  difficulties  may  exist  in  particular  cases, 
there  is  nothing  more  evident  than  that  a  general  increase 
and  improvement  exist  in  this  department.  This  is  not  con 
fined  to  any  one  class  of  schools,  but  extends  to  all ;  there  ia 
more  attention  paid  to  the  character  and  competency  of  the 
teacher — more  disposition  to  encourage  good  teachers,  by 
allowing  reasonable  salaries ;  the  number  of  schools  is  in 
creased,  and  they  are  kept  open  longer  than  formerly.  The 
standard  of  education  is  raised  for  common  schools,  in  almost 
every  county  of  the  State,  and  where  opposition  is  rife,  atten 
tion  is  awakened  and  improvement  goes  on  in  the  most  im 
portant  work  of  education  among  the  people.  This  is  pro 
ducing  its  natural  consequences.  Academies  are  coming 
forward,  of  an  improved  character,  both  in  morals  and  litera 
ture,  and  beyond  them  still,  all  our  colleges  are  in  a  more 
prosperous  condition  than  at  any  former  period."  *  *  * 

"  There  are  occasionally  two  or  more  teachers  in  the  same 
school,  and  sometimes  one  teacher  teaches  the  district  school 
in  two  districts  at  different  periods,  so  that  the  number  of 
teachers  often  varies  from  the  number  of  schools  for  these 
different  reasons.  The  number  of  male  teachers,  in  the  aggre 
gate,  exceeds  that  of  the  females.  In  the  northern  counties, 
the  schools,  to  say  the  least,  are  as  good  as  in  any  counties  in 
the  State;  and  their  practice  is,  to  employ  females  for  teach 
ing  the  small  children."  ***** 

uln  691  townships,  731  school-houses  have  been  built,  this 
year,  at  a  cost  of  $148,959,  being  $504  each ;  and  if  we  sup 
pose  that  as  many  have  been  erected  in  the  non -reporting 
townships,  it  will  present  evidence  of  public  sentiment  and 
public  educational  enterprise  that  has  no  parallel  out  of  Ohio, 
and  it  proves  more  than  any  thing  else,  what  the  public  feeling 
is  on  this  subject.  It  is  true,  some  of  these  houses  have  cost 


350  LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,  ETC. 

bnt  little,  but  we  should  take  into  view,  that  it  is  harder,  ih 
some  districts,  to  expend  $20  for  a  school-house,  than  in 
others  to  expend  $10,000  ;  beside,  in  many  districts,  half  the 
land  is  still  held  by  the  State  or  national  governments,  and 
bears  no  part  of  this  tax ;  and  in  other  places,  much  of  the 
land  actually  taken  up  has  been  entered  within  five  years, 
and  is  not  subject  to  taxation."  *  *  *  * 

u  I  am  informed  that  a  large  number  of  school-houses  have 
been  voted  for,  the  present  year,  in  addition  to  those  re 
ported."  *  * 

"  The  number  of  directors  reported  by  the  township  clerks, 
shows,  in  some  counties,  much  neglect  in  holding  annual 
school  elections.  This  evil,  however,  was  less  in  1839  than 
in  1838. 

"  The  returns  show  that  the  school  tax  has  been  reduced,  in 
ten  counties,  one  mill,  and,  in  three  counties,  a  half  mill, 
leaving  the  other  counties  with  the  tax  as  fixed  by  general 
law.  In  thirty-three  counties,  one  or  more  townships  have 
voted  additional  school  tax."  *  *  *  * 

"The  average  wages  of  the  teachers,  per  month,  is  $13  43. 
But  more  than  two-fifths  of  the  teachers  are  females,  who  do 
not  receive  an  average  of  over  $10  per  month  (though  some 
females  receive  much  more).  This  would  leave  to  the  male 
teachers  an  average  pay  of  $16  per  month." 

Opposition  was  made,  in  the  Legislature,  to  printing  the 
School  Report ;  but  it  was  overcome,  and  five  thousand  copies 
were  ordered.  Of  the  second  Report,  ten  thousand  copies  had 
been  printed. 

The  Standing  committee  on  Schools,  in  the  House,  con 
sisted  of  J.  S.  Rogers  of  Ashtabula,  "W.  B.  Lloyd  of  Cuyahoga, 
Elihu  Johnson  of  Jackson,  J.  Purviance  of  Darke,  and  "W. 
B.  Miller  of  Gallia  and  Lawrence.  In  the  Senate,  of  John 
Hough  of  Ross,  Pike  the  Jackson,  Richard  Lord  of  Cuyahoga, 
and  William  Scott  of  Guernsey  and  Monroe  counties. 

Henry  "West  of  Belmont  moved  that  the  Standing  com 
mittee  on  Schools  in  the  House,  be  instructed  to  inquire  into 
the  expediency  of  abolishing  the  office  of  Superintendent. 
This  motion  was  agreed  to  on  the  19th  of  December.  The 
committee  reported  adversely  to  the  resolution  of  Mr.  "West, 
and  against  the  petitions  to  the  same  purpose,  which  had  been 
referred. 


LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,   ETC.  351 

T.  W.  Bartley  of  Richland,  on  the  21st  of  January,  moved 
to  appoint  a  Select  committee  of  three  to  report  a  bill  reor 
ganizing  or  abolishing  the  office  of  School  Superintendent. 
The  motion  prevailed,  and  a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Bartley 
was  chairman,  was  appointed.  That  committee  did  not 
report. 

A  bill  from  A.  L.  Perrill  of  Pickaway,  to  accomplish  the 
object  of  Bartley's  resolution,  was  afterward  referred  to  a  select 
committee,  from  which  two  reports  were  made.  The  active 
men  on  this  committee  were  Mr.  Perrill  and  A.  A.  Bliss  of 
Lorain.  Perrill  reported  favorably,  and  Mr.  Bliss  adversely. 
Mr.  PerrilFs  bill  was  stubbornly  discussed  and  indefinitely 
postponed.  The  question  then  turned  on  Mr.  Bliss's  bill.  It 
was  evaded  by  a  variety  of  parliamentary  maneuvers  ;  motions 
to  indefinitely  postpone,  to  reduce  the  salary  to  $500,  to  make 
it  $800,  and  to  reduce  it  to  $1,000,  were  lost.  At  length,  on 
the  10th  of  March,  it  passed,  giving  the  Superintendent  $800 
and  a  clerk,  in  the  Auditor's  office,  by  a  vote  of  45  to  17. 

"When  the  bill  was  sent  to  the  Senate,  the  Standing  com 
mittee,  on  motion  of  David  Tod  of  Trumbull,  was  instructed 
so  to  amend  it  as  to  make  the  Auditor  of  State,  School  Super 
intendent.  On  the  17th  of  March,  the  bill,  amended  according 
to  instructions,  was  reported  back.  Mr.  Scott,  of  the  Stand 
ing  committee,  moved  its  indefinite  postponement ;  which  mo 
tion  was  lost,  22  to  8.  Mr.  McLaughlin  of  Kichland,  moved 
to  refer  the  bill  to  the  Judiciary  Committee,  with  instruc 
tion  to  abolish  the  office  of  superintendent,  and  vest  the  power 
he  held  in  township  Trustees.  That  motion  was  lost,  20  to  10. 
Mr.  Yance  of  Clark,  moved  that  $400  be  allowed  the  Auditor 
for  a  clerk,  which  prevailed ;  when  Mr.  Green  of  Pickaway 
and  Licking,  moved  to  strike  out  Auditor  of  State  and  insert 
Secretary  of  State.  The  vote  on  this  motion  stood,  20  yeas 
to  11  nays. 

On  the  18th  of  March,  1840,  the  bill  as  amended  passed  the 
Senate.  The  Ilouse  refused  to  concur  in  the  Senate  amend 
ments,  and  committees  of  conference  were  appointed.  They 
could  not  agree,  and  a  second  conference  was  held ;  meantime 


352  LABORS  OF  SAMUEL  LEWIS,  ETC. 

Scott  of  Monroe  and  Guernsey,  moved  that  Caleb  J.  McNulty, 
then  Clerk  of  the  Senate,  be  elected  School  Superintendent. 
This  motion  passed  the  Senate  on  the  23d  of  March,  by  a  vote 
of  19  to  9. 

The  House  refused  to  act  upon  the  resolution  appointing 
McNulty,  but  accepted  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Confer 
ence,  confirming  the  action  of  the  Senate,  and  on  the  23d  of 
March,  the  last  day  of  the  session,  the  Secretary  of  State  was 
made  School  Superintendent,  and  was  voted  $400,  for  the 
purpose  of  employing  a  clerk.  In  all  other  respects  the  school 
law  was  unchanged.* 

Mr.  Lewis  retired  from  his  office,  with  the  best  wishes  of 
the  friends  of  education  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  For  hia 
three  years'  labor  he  had  received  no  more  money  than  was 
sufficient  to  defray  his  expenses,  while  absent  from  home,  but 
he  had  saved,  by  his  exposure  of  abuses  in  the  lease  and  sale 
of  school  lands,  many  thousands  of  dollars.  Because  by  his 
zealous  efforts  and  judicious  advice  he  had  largely  advanced 
the  educational  interests  of  the  State,  he  was  not  then  denied 
grateful  thanks,  and  as  long  as  common  schools  are  encour 
aged  in  Ohio,  his  memory  will  be  kindly  cherished. 

The  following  statements  of  the  relative  importance  of  the 
Public  Schools,  during  the  three  years  of  his  superintendent- 
ship,  exhibit  progress  of  which  he  had  good  reason  to  be 
justly  proud. 

*  The  names  of  the  men  who  opposed  and  actively  defended  the  school 
law  in  1838-9  and  1839-40,  and  the  names  of  the  counties  they  repre 
sented,  have  been  given,  because  they  indicate  where  liberal  school  senti 
ment  was  most  wanting  at  that  time. 


LABORS   OF   SAMUEL   LEWIS,    ETC 


353 


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354  CONTINUED   POPULAR   ACTION. 


CHAPTER    III. 


CONTINUED   POPULAR  ACTION,  EDUCATIONAL  JOUR 
NALS  AND  TEACHERS'  INSTITUTES. 


FROM  the  year  1840  to  1845,  the  common  school  interests 
of  Ohio  were  but  slightly  advanced.  Compared  with  1839, 
educational  enterprise  in  1840,  was  neither  active  nor  wide 
spread,  and  in  1842  and  1843  there  was  less  accomplished 
than  in  1840.  Reports  from  the  County  Auditors  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  were  meager  and  unsatisfactory.  The  Sec 
retaries  did  not  fail,  as  State  Superintendents,  to  represent 
the  condition  of  Schools  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  they 
recommended  several  valuable  measures  for  their  improve 
ment;*  but  having  no  personal  relations  with  school  officers, 
nor  immediate  intercourse  with  teachers  or  the  friends  of  edu 
cation,  they  were  unable  to  keep  alive  the  interest  which  had 
been  awakened  by  the  personal  exertions  of  the  Superintend 
ent  in  1839. 

Educational  societies,  in  a  few  counties,  were  kept  up,  and 
opposition  to  the  school  law  was  in  a  great  degree  removed  in 
others,  by  the  encouragement  of  schools  in  which  German 
teachers  were  employed,  but  there  was  no  pervading  pride  in, 
or  effort  for,  educational  progress. 

The  following  tabular  statement,  exhibits  more  clearly  than 
any  form  of  words,  the  general  decline  of  school  interest,  if 
thoughtfully  compared  with  the  statements  that  have  been 
given  for  the  three  years,  during  which  Samuel  Lewis,  with 
persuasive  eloquence,  appealed  to  the  people  for  vital  interest 
in  free  schools. 

*  See  page  189. 


CONTINUED   POPULAK   ACTION. 


355 


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01  o<  w  u\  4>.      j     sdnunoQ  jo  'Off 


W  4*.  *.  OS  * 

KllfS: 


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4n  ^1  OJ  Oi  ; 

feaSfei 

-J  -1  0  *.  • 


S5S1 


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CJ  HJ  4k 

i 


as 


nkt 


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.....  siooqog 
noraraoQ  jo  -o 


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rolled. 


q?noA 

'ONT 


•^jinq  sasnojj 
tooqag    jo   -o 


tootps  jo 


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S 


356  CONTINUED   POPULAB   ACTION. 

These  figures  show  clearly  and  forcibly,  in  view  of  what 
Samuel  Lewis  accomplished,  the  wisdom  of  those  who  created 
the  office  of  School  Superintendent,  and  consequently  the  want 
of  foresight  displayed  by  those  under  whose  influence  it  was 
abolished.  Every  Secretary  of  State  complained  of  the  extra 
task  imposed  upon  his  department,  and  no  one  had  been  able 
to  give  it  due  attention.  Mr.  Galloway,  who  made  the  school 
department  his  special  care  in  1844  and  '45,  declared  his  ina 
bility  to  bestow  upon  it  the  study  and  labor  which  its  import 
ance  demanded.* 

A  few  local  efforts  were  put  forth,  with  good  effect  in,  1844, 
to  re-awaken  public  interest,  but  no  general  movements  were 
had,  until  the  fall  and  winter  of  1845.  Early  in  that  year, 
the  school  apathy,  apparent  in  a  greater  portion  of  the  State, 
became  the  subject  of  newspaper  paragraphs,  and  Samuel 
Galloway,  then  Secretary  of  State,  recognizing  the  need  of  a 
school  revival,  determined  to  employ  all  the  legitimate  agen 
cies  of  his  office  in  its  accomplishment.  He  was  ably  sec 
onded  by  influential  men,  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  and 
was  most  creditably  successful.  He  conducted  a  wide-spread 
correspondence,  attended  educational  meetings,  delivered  pub 
lic  addresses,  sent  circulars  to  County  Auditors  and  other 
local  school  officers,  and  reported  to  the  Legislature,  for  1845, 
a  more  prosperous  and  promising  condition  of  the  public 
schools  than  had  been  exhibited  in  any  previous  year,  ex 
cepting  1839,  and  yet  he  was  compelled  to  make  bitter  com 
plaints.  In  his  School  Report  for  1845,  he  said: 

"  During  the  past  year  the  Superintendent  has,  by  corres 
pondence  with  the  friends  of  education,  by  personal  consulta 
tion,  by  issuing  circulars,  and  by  addressing  the  people  in 
some  parts  of  the  State,  endeavored  to  inspire  and  concentrate 
sentiment  in  favor  of  some  immediate  action  by  which  tho 
prostrate  cause  might  be  restored,  and  vigor  and  prosperity 
crown  its  existence.  The  result  of  the  effort  has  been  to 
strengthen  the  conviction  that  the  people  are  ready  to  receive 

*  For  legislation,  between  1840  and  1845,  see  chapter  xiv,  from  pago 
187. 


CONTINUED    POPULAR    ACTION.  357 

and  consummate  decided  legislative  action,  that  the  common 

school  cause  may  be  resuscitated." 

*####### 

"  The  auspicious  omens  which  appear,  and  urge  us  onward 
are,  that  in  the  cities  of  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  and  other  im 
portant  points,  common  schools,  under  the  kind  influence  of 
philanthropy,  and  an  enlightened  public  spirit,  are  exhibiting 
those  rich  fruits  which  alike  show  the  practicability  of  the 
scheme,  and  excite  others  to  a  participation  in  similar  benefits. 
Teachers'  Institutes  and  Associations  are  springing  up  in 
many  sections,  enlisting  the  zeal  and  activity  of  men  of  all 
grades  and  professions ;  greater  success  in  elections  favorable 
to  a  school  tax ;  more  enthusiasm  exhibited  for  the  advance 
ment  of  the  cause  by  County  Superintendents,  as  will  appear 
in  the  fuller  and  more  interesting  communications  received 
this  year ;  and  more  satisfactory  statistics  than  in  any  previ 
ous  year  since  1839."  *  *  * 

"  Not  the  least  cause  of  grievance,  as  represented  by  many 
of  the  most  influential  friends  of  education,  is,  that  the  direc 
tors  in  many  districts,  availing  themselves  of  their  prerogative 
under  the  law,  prohibit  any  branches  being  taught,  except 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic."  *  *  * 

"  It  is  gratifying  to  record  the  fact,  that  in  many  portions 
of  our  State,  these  unfailing  indications  of  the  advance  of 
education  (Teachers'  Associations),  are  in  successful  operation. 
Within  the  past  year,  in  some  of  our  Western  Reserve  coun 
ties,  a  decided  impulse,  with  encouraging  results,  has  been 
given  to  the  movement.  It  is  easy  to  anticipate  the  beneficial 
influence  of  such  measures  upon  teachers,  schools  and  public 
sentiment."  *  *  *  *  * 

"The  reports  of  several  County  Superintendents,  which 
are  herewith  transmitted,  exhibit  unequivocal  evidence  of 
efficient  exertions  on  their  part,  in  the  performance  of  the  re 
sponsible  duties  assigned  them  by  law,  and  by  the  instruc 
tions  of  this  department.  To  their  efforts  is  to  be  attributed, 
to  a  very  great  extent,  the  revolution  in  public  sentiment,  by 
which  the  district  school,  from  being  the  object  of  general 
aversion  and  reproach,  begins  to  attract  the  attention  and 
regard  of  all." 

In  1838,  Rev.  Nelson  Slater  opened  a  Teachers'  Seminary 
at  Kirtland,  Lake  county.  The  following  year  it  was  con 
ducted  by  A.  D.  Lord,  and  between  1840  and  1845,  sent  out 
into  the  schools  of  Northern  Ohio,  several  men  who  have 
since  become  prominent  educators.  These  men,  seconded 


358  CONTINUED   POPULAR   ACTION. 

with  vigor  the  efforts  made  in  1845,  in  other  parts  of  the  State, 
and  contributed  largely  to  the  awakening  of  a  sentiment  which, 
from  that  period,  has  been  maturing  and  extending  with  great 
advantage  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  people  of  Ohio. 

Information  that  Conventions  for  the  instruction  of  teachers 
had  done  good  work  in  the  State  of  New  York,  was  spread 
ing  in  Ohio,  when  Rev.  L.  Howe  of  Sandusky,  invited  Salem 
Town,  who  was  popular  as  a  lecturer  at  the  New  York  Con 
ventions,  to  visit  our  State.  Mr.  Town  accepted  the  invita 
tion.  Notice  was  given  of  his  expected  visit;  A.  D.  Lord  of 
Kirtlaud,  was  engaged  to  assist  at  the  Convention,  and  in 
September,  1845,  the  first  Teachers'  Institute,  ever  held  in  the 
Western  country,  was  conducted  at  Saudusky  by  Salem  Town, 
A.  D.  Lord,  and  M.  F.  Cowdery  (then  a  teacher  in  the  Kirt- 
land  Seminary) ;  Rev.  Mr.  Howe,  Ebenezer  Lane,  and  other 
men  of  influence,  took  part  in  the  exercises.  The  Institute 
was  successful  in  establishing  faith  in  the  usefulness  of  such 
Conventions.  It  was  attended  by  about  one  hundred  pupils. 
Encouraged  by  their  success  at  Sandusky,  Lord  and  Cowdery, 
assisted  by  M.  D.  Leggett,  held  a  second  Institute  at  Chardon, 
Geauga  county,  in  October.  It  was  attended  by  one  hundred 
and  forty  teachers,  and  was  regarded  with  distinguished  favor 
by  the  leading  citizens  of  the  county. 

Thus  was  auspiciously  commenced  a  series  of  Teachers' 
meetings  for  mutual  improvement,  and  the  elevation  of  the 
profession  of  teaching,  which  have  become  a  feature  of  edu 
cational  movements  in  Ohio,  so  important,  that  the  county 
which,  during  any  year,  is  without  one,  depreciates  in  the 
regard  of  all  who  have  observing  interest  in  common  schools. 

Educational  men,  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  were  encouraged 
by  the  events  of  1845,  and  taking  advantage  of  opportunities 
then  opened  to  them,  signally  advanced  the  common  school 
cause  in  Ohio,  during  the  four  succeeding  years. 

In  July,  1846,  A.  D.  Lord  published,  at  Kirtland,  the  first 
number  of  the  Ohio  School  Journal.  It  was  a  thin  duode 
cimo  magazine,  advertised  to  appear  monthly.  It  was  con 
ducted  with  spirit,  advocated  Teachers'  Institutes,  and  argued 


CONTINUED   POPULAR   ACTION.  359 

the  general  need  of  a  State  Educational  Society.  There  had 
then  been  no  State  Educational  Convention  for  six  or  seven 
years,  and  the  want  of  a  concert  of  action  among  the  friends 
of  education  was  everywhere  felt.  Making  progressive  meas 
ures  the  special  objects  of  its  articles,  and  urging  upon  teachers 
the  necessity  of  elevating  their  profession,  the  Journal,  though 
not  liberally  supported,  was  recognized  as  a  valuable  organ 
of  educational  sentiment. 

Henry  D.  Barnard,  well  known  as  Superintendent  of  Schools 
in  Connecticut,  was  invited  to  visit  Ohio,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  1846,  spent  several  weeks  in  our  State.  He  lectured  at 
Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  and  other  prominent  cities  and  towns, 
and  was  warmly  welcomed  in  all.  Arrangements  had  been 
made,  early  in  1846,  for  Teachers'  Institutes,  and  during  that 
year  nine  were  held,  in  northern  counties,  with  increasing  suc 
cess  and  widening  interest,  as  their  purposes  and  advantages 
became  known. 

The  first  Institute  held  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  was 
at  Cincinnati,  in  February,  1847. 

The  first  one  held  in  middle  Ohio,  was  at  Newark,  Licking 
county,  in  March,  1848. 

In  November,  1846,  the  Free  School  Clarion,  by  William 
Boweii,  at  Massillon,  Starke  county,  appeared  as  a  coadjutor 
of  the  School  Journal.  It  was  issued  semi-monthly.  It  re- 
published  the  calls  which  had  been  put  forth  for  a  State 
Teachers'  Association,  and  added  arguments  of  its  own  in 
favor  of  such  an  organization. 

But  a  few  numbers  of  the  Clarion  had  been  issued,  when 
a  third  school  paper  attracted  attention.  It  was  the  Common 
School  Friend,  published  monthly,  at  Cincinnati,  by  Winthrop 
B.  Smith  &  Co.  With  January,  1847,  came  a  fourth  period 
ical — representing  the  growing  educational  sentiment  of  the 
State — the  Western  School  Journal,  published  monthly,  at 
Cincinnati,  by  W.  H.  Moore  &  Co.  Lord's  School  Journal 
had  been  removed  to  Columbus,  in  December,  1846. 

By  means  of  Educational  Associations,  Teachers'  Institutes, 
and  County  Conventions,  a  public  opinion  was  developed  in 


360  CONTINUED   POLULAB   ACTION. 

1847  and  1848,  which  demanded  more  liberal  legislation  than 
had  characterized  1844,  1845  or  1846.  Teachers'  Institutes 
were  encouraged,  county  Superintendents  were  authorized, 
and  a  step  taken  toward  the  establishment  of  School  Libra 
ries  :  provision  was  made  for  the  better  regulation  of  schools 
in  towns  and  villages,  and  taxation  for  the  support  of  schools 
was  rendered  sure.* 

The  law  to  encourage  Institutes  was  in  answer  to  petitions 
from  the  counties  in  which  they  had  been  held,  suggested  by 
resolutions  adopted  at  Sandusky  and  Chard  on,  in  1845,  re 
commending  to  the  friends  of  education  the  importance  of 
memorializing  the  Legislature  in  favor  of  endowing  Institutes 
and  making  them  a  part  of  the  school  system  of  Ohio.  And 
the  act  authorizing  counties  to  elect  Superintendents,  was  a 
response  to  petitions  that  had  been  industriously  circulated  in 
northern  and  middle  counties.  The  counties  in  which  Com 
missioners  were  authorized,  upon  a  vote  of  the  people,  to  set 
apart  a  sum  of  money  for  the  support  of  county  Superintend 
ents,  were  Lake,  Geauga,  Cuyahoga,  Medina,  Delaware,  Knox, 
Muskingum,  Lorain,  Portage,  Holmes,  Gallia,  Lawrence, 
Champaign,  Trumbull,  Mahoning,  Franklin,  Madison,  Clark, 
Hancock,  Licking,  Seneca,  Sandusky,  Crawford  and  Wyandot. 

Those  in  which  Teachers'  Institutes  were  encouraged  by  the 
appropriation  of  money  from  the  income  of  the  surplus  reve 
nue,  were  Ashtabula,  Lake,  Geauga,  Cuyahoga,  Erie,  Lorain, 
Medina,  Trumbull,  Summit,  Portage  and  Delaware. 

The  Commissioners  of  Delaware  county  appropriated  $200 
for  an  Institute;  Geauga  county  gave  $200  for  a  Superin 
tendent  ;  Medina,  for  an  Institute,  $300 ;  and  Ashtabula,  for 
a  Superintendent,  $350.  Sandusky  and  Ashtabula  were  the 
only  counties  in  which  Superintendents  were  elected. 

In  1847,  thirteen  Institutes  were  held  in  the  State.  A 
revival,  begun  in  Cincinnati,  spread  over  Southern  Ohio,  and 
very  decided  improvements  were  made  in  the  cities  of  Cin 
cinnati,  Cleveland,  Dayton  and  Portsmouth,  and  in  the  towns 

*  See  pages  197,  205-6. 


CONTINUED   POPULAR   ACTION.  361 

of  Akron,  Sandusky,  Delaware,  Massillon  and  Lebanon,  by 
the  establishment  of  High  Schools. 

The  following  extracts  from  Samuel  Galloway's  Eeport  to 
the  General  Assembly,  for  1847,  are  of  interest,  as  the  opinion 
of  a  man  who,  with  favorable  opportunities,  closely  watched 
the  indications  of  school  progress : 

"  The  only  full  report  which  has  been  presented,  for  many 
years,  is  that  transmitted  this  year  by  A.  H.  Bailey,  Superin 
tendent  of  Schools  for  Ashtabula  county.  His  letter  indicates 
the  efficient  action  which  he  has  adopted,  and  the  report  shows 
that,  if  a  general  law  were  passed,  creating  the  office  of  County 
Superintendent,  and  other  counties  would  imitate  the  example 
of  Ashtabula,  the  school  system  of  Ohio  would  soon  fulfill  the 
expectations  of  its  founders,  and  its  friends.  The  only  other 
returns,  which  even  approximate  accuracy,  are  those  of  the 
counties  of  Athens,  Meigs,  Knox,  Morgan,  Licking  and  Sum 
mit.  For  these,  we  are  principally  indebted  to  the  active  ex 
ertions  of  the  Auditors,  and  it  may  here  be  appropriate  to 
remark,  that  the  Auditor  of  Licking  county  has  especially 

distinguished  himself  by  diligence  in  obtaining  statistics." 

*  ***  **** 

"  As  evidence  of  the  improvement  which  may  by  appropri 
ate  exertions  be  realized,  and  as  deservedly  complimentary  to 
those  who  have  conducted  and  sustained  the  laudable  enter 
prise,  it  may  be  stated,  that  an  intelligent  citizen  of  this  State, 
who  recently  visited  the  public  schools  (which  have  not  been 
one  year  in  existence)  of  this  city  (Columbus),  remarked  that 
their  organization,  mode  of  instruction,  and  advantages,  were 
superior  to  those  which  he  had  seen,  or  in  which  he  had  been 
educated,  in  his  native  New  England  State.  It  is  probable 
that  the  schools  of  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Dayton,  and  other 
prominent  points,  possess  even  a  higher  reputation  than  those 
specified,  as  they  have  for  a  number  of  years,  been  in  success 
ful  operation.  Within  the  last  year,  in  many  of  our  larger 
towns,  measures  have  been  adopted  for  enlarging  the  means 
and  advantages  of  common  schools,  and  establishing  them 
upon  a  basis  similar  to  that  upon  which  the  schools  in  some 
of  our  cities  are  founded.  These  signs  are  auspicious,  and 
betoken,  though  dimly,  a  better  day."  *  * 

"The  oral  and  printed  discussions  of  the  subject  of  educa 
tion,  the  expressions  of  the  press,  the  establishment  of  Teachers' 
Institutes,  and  the  gradual  but  certain  intellectual  improve 
ment  of  our  people,  have  contributed  to  elevate  the  expecta 
tions  of  the  people,  and  the  standard  of  attainment  for  teachers. 


CONTINUED    POPULAR   ACTION. 

The  public  mind  is  beginning  fully  to  realize  that  there  is  an 
impropriety  in  the  school-room  being  converted  into  winter 
quarters  for  exhausted  energy,  and  a  "  city  of  refuge "  for 
those  who  have  been  chased  from  other  employments.  Not 
withstanding  the  advance  which  has  taken  place  in  public 
sentiment,  a  more  extensive  improvement  is  yet  demanded. 
The  cold  indifference  which  is  manifested  by  parents,  and 
those  having  supervision  of  schools,  would  amaze  us,  if  we 

had  not  become  so  familiarized  to  its  contemplation." 

******** 

"  Our  system  of  education  has  had  a  feeble,  uncertain  ex 
istence  ;  occasionally  giving  signs  of  a  reviving  life,  and  as 
frequently  exhibiting  symptoms  of  dissolution.  It  never  has 
commanded  watchful,  affectionate  protection,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  unblessed  by  the  love  of  any,  it  has  been  left  to  the 
capricious  charities  of  all. 

"  That  spirit  of  enterprise  and  speculation  which  has  given 
origin  and  impetus  to  physical  improvement,  has  not  been 
imbued  with  those  loftier  attributes  with  which  it  has  been 
elsewhere  characterized,  and  has  not  extensively  embraced 
the  moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of  our  people.  Our 
wealthy  men  have  not,  as  in  older  States,  honored  themselves 
by  liberal  benefactions  for  the  endowment  of  schools  and 
colleges.  Donations  for  educational  purposes,  with  us,  are 
rare.  In  other  States  they  have  been  frequent.  Our  popula 
tion  has  been  of  a  transitory  character,  and  but  little  disposed 
to  the  pursuit  or  accomplishment  of  any  object  as  much  iden 
tified  with  general,  as  with  individual,  welfare.  Our  society 
lias  not  assumed  that  harmonious  and  uniform  character  which 
would  secure  that  unanimity  so  essential  to  successful  educa 
tional  effort.  There  has  also  operated,  for  many  years,  and 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  time  since  the  re-organization 
of  our  school  system,  the  depressing  influence  of  a  heavy  State 
debt."  *  *  '  *  *  *  *  '  * 

"  When  the  influence  of  these,  and  other  difficulties  which 
might  be  enumerated  are  contemplated,  in  connection  with 
the  deplorable  apathy  which  has  been  exhibited  by  the  pro 
fessed  friends  of  education,  it  is  indeed  strange  that  the  8ljf» 
tern  has  not  been  crushed  with  obloquy  and  contempt.  Its 
preservation  can  only  be  attributed  to  a  deep-seated  yet  dor 
mant  attachment  to  general  intelligence,  and  to  that  ineradi 
cable  love  for  human  welfare,  which  all  feel,  and  which  but 
few  effectively  exhibit." 


SUPERINTENDENCE   OF  THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT.  363 


CHAPTER    IV. 

SUPERINTENDENCE  OF  THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT. 

IN  1847,  the  Secretary  of  State  (Galloway),  addressed  cir 
culars  to  prominent  men,  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  invit 
ing  reports  upon  common  schools,  and  upon  the  general 
interest  in  popular  education.  The  replies  to  his  letters 
exhibited,  in  connection  with  the  reports  of  Auditors  and 
county  Superintendents,  a  wide-spread  determination,  inde 
pendent  of  government  authority  or  influence,  to  extend  and 
improve  common  school  privileges. 

A  most  gratifying  feature  of  this  general  interest  was,  a 
growing  public  spirit  among  teachers.  Institutes  appeared 
to  have  aroused  them  to  a  new  sense  of  their  obligations. 
Wherever  Institutes  were  held,  the  necessity  of  the  elevation 
of  teachers,  of  thorough  school  organization,  in  counties  and 
for  the  State,  and  of  the  enlargement  of  the  sphere  of  the 
common  schools,  were  topics  of  discussion  and  illustration. 
Resolutions,  embodying  these  doctrines,  were  often  passed, 
and  were  published  in  the  county  papers. 

At  Institutes  held  in  Ashland,  Chardon  and  Akron,  in  the 
fall  of  1847,  M.  F.  Cowdery,  Lorin  Andrews,  William  Bowen, 
J.  Hurty,  A.  D.  Lord  and  M.  D.  Leggett,  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  make  arrangements  for  the  organization  of  a 
State  Educational  Society. 

They  called  a  Convention  at  Akron,  on  the  31st  of  Decem 
ber,  1847,  and  a  State  Teachers'  Association  was  there  formed, 
with  Samuel  Galloway  as  President ;  T.  W.  Harvey  of  Goauga 
county,  Recording  Secretary ;  M.  D.  Leggett  of  Summit,  as 
Corresponding  Secretary ;  and  William  Bowen  of  Stark,  as 
Treasurer. 


364:  SUPERINTENDENCE   OF  THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT. 

An  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  M.  F.  Cowdery  of 
Lake,  Lorin  Andrews  of  Ashland,  M.  D.  Leggett  of  Summit, 
J.  Nichols  of  Lake,  J.  Hurty  of  Kichland,  F.  W.  Tappan  of 
Portage  and  II.  K.  Smith  of  Summit,  was  instructed  to  pre 
pare  a  plan  for  the  awakening  of  educational  interest,  and  the 
elevation  of  the  profession  of  teaching. 

Eleven  counties  had  been  represented  in  the  Convention, 
and  the  Executive  Committee  was  encouraged  to  take  ener 
getic  measures.  An  address  to  teachers  and  the  friends  of 
education  was  agreed  upon,  inviting  co-operation,  and  urging 
interest  in  a  meeting  of  the  Association,  to  be  holden  in  June, 
1848.  The  Committee  announced  its  intention  to  hold  Insti 
tutes  in  forty  counties  of  the  State,  and  issued  a  circular,  ap 
pealing  for  aid,  and  explaining  the  object  to  be  attained. 

These  movements  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  the 
objects  generally  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  were 
approved  by  the  newspapers  of  the  State,  and  in  all  the  edu 
cational  journals  earnest  appeals  were  made  in  their  behalf. 

The  year  1848  is  distinguished  in  the  School  History  of 
Ohio.  The  Secretary  of  State  reported  encouragingly  to  the 
General  Assembly,  and  the  legislation  of  the  winter  of  1848-9 
was  liberal.* 

Mr.  Galloway  said : 

"  The  legislation  for  schools,  within  the  last  three  or  four 
years,  exhibits  an  improved  and  advancing  state  of  public 
sentiment,  which  demands  more  enlarged  views  for  educa 
tional  action  than  that  which  exists.  The  recent  amendments 
to  the  original  laws  are  as  "  new  cloth  in  an  old  garment," 
and  although  all  may  not  have  been  made  worse,  yet  the  ap 
pearance,  at  least,  manifests  the  necessity  of  an  entirely  new 
dress."  ******* 

"  The  cause  of  common  school  education  is  slowly,  but  cer 
tainly  advancing,  notwithstanding  the  many  impediments 
which  it  has  to  encounter.  The  conviction  is  annually  be 
coming  stronger,  that  a  common  school  system  is  adapted  to 
our  wants ;  that  it  is  susceptible  of  immediate  improvement, 
which  will  secure  for  it  general  confidence  and  patronage; 

*  See  pages  191,  200  and  206. 


SUPERINTENDENCE   OF   THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT.  365 

that  no  other  plan,  securing  general  education,  can  be  estab 
lished  ;  and  that  our  social  and  political  prosperity  are  inti 
mately  identified  with  success.  Some  who  once  denounced 
common  schools,  as  an  unworthy  object  of  public  benefactions, 
are  now  beginning  to  appreciate  their  advantages ;  many  who 
have  had  no  children  to  educate,  but  who  have  been  uncom 
fortably  taxed  to  support  the  cause,  now  perceive  results  which, 
at  least,  measurably  compensate  them  for  their  imagined  loss 
of  funds ;  and  a  still  larger  number  who  have  apprehended 
injury  to  the  morals  and  manners  of  their  children  from  asso 
ciation  with  the  children  of  those  occupying  a  different  social 
and  pecuniary  position,  are  ascertaining,  alike  from  facts  and 
observation,  that  correct  principles  of  faith  and  of  conduct, 
and  the  decencies  of  life,  can  be  as  successfully  taught  and 
practiced  in  common,  as  in  select  schools."  *  *  *  * 
"  Another  auspicious  sign  of  improvement  is  to  be  found 
in  our  cities  and  some  of  our  larger  towns.  "Within  the 
last  four  years,  schools  of  the  highest  order  have  been  estab 
lished,  rivaling  in  extent,  efficiency  and  usefulness,  those 
schools  of  New  England  and  New  York  which  have  been 
reared  under  highly  improved  educational  systems,  and 
which  have  been  liberally  sustained  by  the  patronage  of 
funds,  and  of  an  enlightened  public  sentiment.  The  gene 
rosity  and  taste  of  the  citizens  in  these  points  have  been  in 
terestingly  exemplified  by  the  erection  of  many  substantial 
and  commodious  buildings,  and  in  the  selection  of  teachers 
of  the  highest  attainments  and  character." 

It  was  a  part  of  the  duty  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
State  Teachers'  Association  to  report  to  the  State  School  De 
partment.  From  the  report  of  M.  F.  Cowdery,  made  in 
December,  1848,  we  quote: 

"  In  assuming  the  responsibility  of  conducting  the  business 
affairs  of  the  Association,  twelve  months  since,  the  committee 
selected  the  following  objects,  as  most  worthy  of  their  imme 
diate  attention :  First,  the  elevation  of  the  teachers  of  the 
State,  through  the  agency  of  Teachers'  Institutes,  courses  of 
lectures  to  teachers,  educational  conventions  and  associations, 
and  a  more  conscientious  adherence  to  the  law  relating  to  the 
qualifications  of  teachers  on  the  part  of  county  examiners. 
The  second  object  of  the  committee  was  to  encourage  a  reor 
ganization  of  the  schools  in  the  cities  and  incorporated  towns 
of  the  State.  This  was  proposed  to  be  accomplished  by  ad 
dressing  citizens  publicly,  and  stating  the  importance,  prac 
ticability  and  economy  of  such  a  change  in  the  common  school 


366  SUPERINTENDENCE    OF   THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT. 

organization  as  would  give,  to  every  child  of  a  town  or  city, 
an  education  fitting  him  for  his  duties  as  a  citizen  ;  and  lastly, 
it  was  the  wish  of  the  committee,  as  far  and  as  fast  as  prac 
ticable,  to  prepare  the  public  mind  for  a  school  system  for  our 
State,  unparalleled  for  the  liberality  of  its  provisions,  the 
wisdom  of  its  measures,  and  the  harmony  and  efficiency  of 
its  operations. 

"  During  the  past  year  these  objects  have  been  kept  steadily 
in  view."  ****** 

"  Early  in  January  last  the  committee  made  conditional 
arrangements  for  holding  Teachers'  Institutes  in  one  half  the 
counties  of  the  State  in  the  spring  following,  and  matured 
plans  for  holding  others  in  the  remaining  counties  of  the  State, 
during  the  succeeding  autumn,  i 

"  Teachers  of  ability  and  experience  were  secured  to  visit 
these  counties,  and  give  a  course  of  instruction,  for  one  week, 
to  the  teachers  of  the  county,  provided  the  county  examiners, 
teachers  themselves,  and  friends  of  education,  should  co-ope 
rate  in  the  measures  proposed.  Several  hundred  letters  were 
written  by  the  committee  to  public  men  and  private  citizens, 
in  the  counties  designated,  asking  their  influence  and  effort 
in  behalf  of  the  plans  of  the  committee.  The  following  coun 
ties  accepted  the  propositions  of  the  committee,  and  Institutes 
were  held  during  the  months  of  March  and  April  last:  Ash 
land,  Richland,  Huron,  Licking,  Seneca,  Starke,  Columbiaua, 
Wayne  and  Washington.  The  number  of  teachers  attending 
the  Institutes,  in  the  above  counties,  was  between  six  and 
seven  hundred. 

"  During  the  summer,  proposals  were  issued  by  the  com 
mittee  for  holding  an  Institute  during  the  succeeding  autumn, 
in  any  county  of  the  State  where  teachers  and  friends  would 
co-operate  with  the  committee.  The  following  counties  ac 
cepted  the  proposals  of  the  committee,  and  Institutes  were 
held,  during  the  past  autumn,  in  Montgomery,  Medina,  Port 
age,  Huron,  Seneca,  Miami,  Sandusky,  Champaign,  Ashta- 
bula  and  Washington. 

"  The  number  of  teachers  instructed  at  the  Institutes  during 
the  fall,  in  the  above  counties,  was  above  eight  hundred, 
making  in  all  about  fifteen  hundred,  who  have  attended  Insti 
tutes  during  the  past  year,  in  connection  with  the  State  Asso 
ciation. 

uln  January  last,  the  committee  issued  proposals  for  a 
COURSE  OF  LECTURES  TO  TEACHERS,  on  subjects  immediately 
connected  with  their  qualifications  and  duties,  and  the  im 
provement  of  schools,  to  continue  nine  weeks,  and  be  givi-n 


SUPERINTENDENCE   OF   THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT.  367 

in  any  county  of  the  State  where  the  friends  of  education 
would  offer  the  most  liberal  inducements  to  the  committee  for 
the  course.  From  all  the  propositions  received,  the  offer  from 
Huron  county,  pledging  to  the  committee  nearly  $500,  with 
a  suitable  building,  was  deemed  best,  and  the  course  was 
accordingly  given  in  that  county.  About  one  hundred  and 
twenty  persons  attended  the  course."  *  * 

The  following  are  selected  from  among  the  resolutions 
passed  by  the  teachers,  at  the  close  of  the  course : 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  our  opinion,  Normal  Classes,  and 
Teachers'  Institutes,  as  conducted  by  our  State  Teachers' 
Association,  are  among  the  most  efficient  auxiliaries  for  pro 
moting  the  improvement  of  teachers,  and  the  consequent 
elevation  of  our  common  school  system. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  heartily  approve  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  first  Normal  Class  has  been  conducted  by  M.  F. 
Cowdery,  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Ohio 
State  Teachers'  Association,  and  that  we  have  been  extremely 
gratified  with  the  choice  of  gentlemen  to  lecture  on  the  vari 
ous  subjects  before  us. 

"Resolved,  That  Messrs.  M.  F.  Cowdery,  L.  Andrews,  H. 
Benton,  Professor  S.  St.  John,  G.  W.  Winchester,  J.  B. 
Howard,  J.  Hurty,  T.  W.  Harvey,  Professor  H.  Mandeville, 
Professor  I.  J.  Allen  and  M.  D.  Leggett,  are  entitled  to  our  cor 
dial  gratitude  for  the  untiring  zeal  of  their  efforts,  and  for  the 
very  able  and  interesting  manner  in  which  they  have  addressed 
us  on  the  subjects  assigned  them."  *  * 

"  During  the  summer,  proposals  were  issued  by  the  com 
mittee  for  another  course,  similar  to  the  one  in  Huron  county, 
to  be  given  where  the  best  offer  should  be  made.  The  offer 
from  Summit  county  was  deemed  best,  and  the  course  was 
given  in  that  county  during  the  months  of  September  and 
October.  The  class  numbered  about  sixty.  Similar  resolu 
tions  were  presented  by  this  class,  and  similar  expressions  of 
approval  were  given  by  citizens  and  the  press. 

"Gentlemen  who  have  been  employed  to  conduct  Teachers' 
Institutes,  have  invariably  presented  the  subject  of  Union 
Schools  in  all  the  counties  they  have  visited ;  aod  it  is  be 
lieved,  that  important  results  have  already  grown  out  of  their 
labors.  Several  towns  have  already  adopted  the  plan  of 
classifying  the  pupils,  and  bringing  all  the  schools  under  one 
uniform  and  connected  system,  while  others  are  making  the 
preliminary  arrangements  to  introduce  the  same  general 
method. 


3C8  SUPERINTENDENCE   OF   THE   STATE    DEPARTMENT. 

"  It  is  believed  that  there  is  a  strong  and  growing  public 
sentiment  in  favor  of  all  practicable  improvement  in  the  sys 
tem  of  education  in  our  State.  The  committee  have  been 
sustained  and  encouraged  in  the  various  efforts  they  have 
made  the  past  year,  by  private  citizens,  teachers  and  others, 
far  beyond  their  expectations.  In  many  sections  of  the  State, 
it  only  needs  to  be  known  that  a  measure  is  really  an  improve 
ment,  and  that  it  is  practicable,  and  the  means  for  introducing 
it  are  speedily  provided."  *  *  *  * 

The  Lectures  complimented  in  the  Resolutions  above  quoted, 
were  by  Professor  St.  John  on  Geology ;  by  H.  Benton  on  the 
English  Language ;  by  Lorin  Andrews  on  Arithmetic ;  by  M. 
F.  Cowdery  on  Geography  and  Vegetable  Physiology ;  by  J. 
B.  Howard  on  Linear  Drawing ;  by  J.  Hurty  on  Civil  Govern 
ment  ;  by  T.  W.  Harvey  on  American  History ;  by  Professor 
Mandeville  on  Elocution;  by  G.  W.  Winchester  on  Book 
keeping  ;  by  I.  J.  Allen  on  Natural  Philosophy ;  by  M.  D. 
Leggett  on  Human  Physiology ;  and  on  Music  by  Mr.  An 
drews  and  Mr.  Howard. 

Active  interest  for  Normal  Schools,  was  manifested  in  1848. 
The  educational  journals  pressed  their  value,  and  Mr.  Gallo 
way  urged  the  Legislature  to  encourage  the  establishment  of 
one  or  more.  Another  feature  of  the  movement  of  that  year, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  was 
Union  Schools. 

A  Committee  of  the  Association,  consisting  of  A.  D.  Lord, 
S.  S.  Rickey,  and  H.  II.  Barney,  made  the  encouragement  of 
Union  Schools  a  speciality,  and  reported  to  the  State  School 
Department,  lively  encouragement.  Some  paragraphs  from 
that  report  will  be  found  of  decided  interest,  as  a  part  of  the 
history  of  the  educational  progress  of  the  year. 

The  Committee  arguing  the  advantage  of  thorough  system, 
and  presenting  the  advantages  of  Union  and  Graded  Schools, 
said: 

"It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  in  most  of  the  towns  and 
villages  of  this  State,  where  classified  public  schools  have  not 
been  established,  there  are  few,  if  any,  good  school-houses : 
that  the  teachers  employed  are  generally  poorly  paid,  and 


SUPERINTENDENCE   OF  THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT.  369 

often  entirely  incompetent;  that  the  scholars  attend  irregu 
larly,  and  derive  but  little  benefit  from  their  attendance ;  that 
school  officers  and  citizens  take  but  little  interest  in  the  schools, 
and  that  the  better  class  of  families,  including  nearly  all  who 
are  able  to  provide  for  the  education  of  their  children  else 
where,  and  most,  if  not  all,  of  those  who  value  the  manners 
and  morals  of  their  children,  feel  compelled  to  stand  entirely 
aloof  from  these  schools,  and  secure  their  education  by  send 
ing  them  abroad,  or  by  sustaining  private  schools  near  home, 
at  a  heavy  expense."  ***** 

"  After  a  trial  of  this  plan  for  years,  the  opinion  has  become 
almost  universal  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  in  many  parts  of 
our  own  State,  that  the  only  means  of  providing  a  respectable 
education  for  the  great  mass  of  the  youth  of  a  town,  and  that 
the  best  and  cheapest  plan  for  securing  the  same  for  those  who 
are  able  to  provide  it  at  their  own  expense,  is  by  establishing 
well  regulated  public  schools,  sustained  during  at  least  ten 
months  in  the  year,  and  supported  by  a  tax  on  the  property 
of  the  town  or  district.  These  schools  are  divisible  into  two 
classes ;  Union  schools  for  moderate-sized  towns  and  villages 
and  the  more  densely  populated  country  districts,  and  properly 
classified  or  Graded  public  schools  for  larger  towns  and  cities." 
******** 

"In  country  districts,  a  house  containing  three  rooms  can, 
probably,  be  built  and  furnished  for  $1,000  or  $1,500.  The 
cost  of  the  Union  school  in  Perrysburg,  intended  for  three 
hundred  scholars  was  $3,000.  The  cost  of  each  of  the  three 
public  school-houses  in  Columbus,  containing  six  rooms,  and 
intended  for  three  hundred  pupils,  was  not  far  from  $3,000, 
exclusive  of  the  expense  for  site.  The  expense  of  the  Union 
school-house  in  Lancaster,  which  is  fifty-six  by  eighty  feet  on 
the  ground,  two  stories  in  hight,  and  contains  eight  school 
rooms  for  fifty  scholars  each,  was  $6,000 ;  for  site  (two  lots), 
$800  ;  for  building  and  furniture,  $5,200.  The  Union  school 
house  in  Massillon,  ninety  by  sixty  feet,  and  three  stories  in 
hight,  cost  about  $7,000,  exclusive  of  the  site,  which  was  a 
donation."  ****** 

"The  salaries  now  paid  to  female  teachers  in  different 
places  in  Ohio,  where  Union  schools  or  well  regulated  public 
schools  have  been  established,  range  from  two  to  seven  dollars 
per  week.  In  the  schools  of  Cleveland,  they  are  paid  from 
two  to  five  dollars  per  week ;  in  Columbus,  primary  teachers 
receive  $160  per  year,  and  secondary  teachers  $200 ;  in  Cin 
cinnati  the  different  grades  of  teachers  receive  from  $192  to 
$336 ;  and  in  Massillon,  from  $200  to  $400  per  year.  The 

24 


370  SUPERINTENDENCE   OF  THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT. 

salary  of  the  teachers  of  the  Senior  or  Grammar  schools  in 
Columbus  is  $400  ;  in  Cleveland,  $440 ;  in  Cincinnati,  $600. 
The  salary  of  the  Principal  of  the  High  School  in  Cleveland, 
and  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  Akron  is  $500  ;  that 
of  the  Principal  of  the  Union  School  in  Perrysburg,  and  of 
the  Principal  of  the  Boy's  School  in  Zanesville  $600 ;  of  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Sandusky  City,  $700 ; 
of  the  Principal  of  the  Massillou  Union  School,  and  the  Su 
perintendent  of  Schools  in  Columbus,  $800 ;  and  the  present 
salary  of  the  Principal  of  the  Central  School  in  Cincinnati  is 
$1,500."       ******* 
"  The  average  price  of  tuition  in  the  several  schools  of 
Cleveland,  for  the  last  year,  was  $3.96 ;  in  the  schools  of 
Columbus,  $5.25 ;  in  those  of  Cincinnati,  $7.00 ;  in  the  Union 
school  of  Massillon  it  is  not  far  from  $6.00 ;  in  the  Public 
schools  of  Philadelphia,  employing  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  teachers,  instructing  more  than  forty  thousand  different 
scholars,  and  an  average  of  about  thirty-five  thousand,  the 
average  cost  of  education,  including  tuition,  books  and  sta 
tionery,  was  $6.49,  and  including  the  interest  on  $750,343 
(the  amount  which  the  city  and  county  has  invested  in  real 
estate  for  school  purposes),  the  cost  was  $7.15  per  scholar." 
******** 

"  Of  eleven  teachers  in  the  schools  of  Akron,  ten  are  females ; 
of  twenty-one  in  Cleveland,  only  five  are  males  ;  of  twenty  in 
Columbus,  six  are  males ;  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
in  Cincinnati,  thirty-five,  or  a  little  more  than  one-fourth,  are 
males;  of  an  aggregate  of  more  than  fifteen  hundred,  in  the 
twenty  cities  before  named,  only  one-fourth  are  males ;  and 
of  six  hundred  and  thirty-one,  employed  in  Philadelphia, 
eighty,  or  a  little  more  than  one-eighth,  are  male  teachers." 
******** 

"  The  sum  levied,  for  the  last  year,  in  Columbus,  was  four- 
fifths  of  one  mill ;  in  Akron  and  Cincinnati,  two  mills  on  tho 
dollar." 

There  were  then  not  more  than, .twenty  Union  Schools  in 
Ohio;  Cincinnati  had  led  the  movement  by  good  example, 
and  her  schools  were  of  wider  range  and  higher  sphere  than 
any  others  in  the  State;  but  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Dayton, 
Z.inesville,  Sandusky,  Portsmouth,  Mansfield,  Massillon,  and 
a  few  other  towns,  were  then,  as  they  are  now,  forward  com 
petitors  for  common  school  distinction. 


SUPERINTENDENCE   OF  THE   STATE   DEPARTMENT.  371 

The  State  Teachers'  Association,  at  the  period  which  we 
are  now  considering,  as  it  did  for  at  least  five  years  after  1848, 
and  as  it  does  in  a  great  measure  yet,  discharged  important 
duties  which  properly  belong  to  a  State  Department  of  Public 
Schools.  There  had  been  from  1839,  growing  demand  for  a 
State  School  Department.  Despairing  of  success  in  petition 
ing  the  Legislature,  without  an  active  increase  of  public  inter 
est,  a  few  leading  teachers  had  determined  to  show  in  how 
far  the  interests  of  schools  might  be  advanced  by  co-opera 
tion,  independent  of  State  patronage.  They  succeeded  better 
than  they  had  reason  to  anticipate,  but  did  not  at  any  time 
lose  sight  of  what  they  believed  to  be  the  obligations  of  gov 
ernment.  They  resolved,  at  the  semi-annual  meeting  of  the 
Association  in  Dayton,  June  1848,  that  a  State  Superintend 
ent  of  Schools  ought  to  be  appointed,  and  as  we  have  seen 
reported  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  at  the  end  of  the  first  year 
of  their  endeavors. 

The  first  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association 
was  held  in  Columbus,  December  27,  1848.  Samuel  Gallo 
way  delivered  an  address  and  was  re-elected  President.  Asa 
D.  Lord  was  chosen  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee. 
The  Convention  discussed  the  necessity  of  a  State  Normal 
School,  and  of  State  and  County  Superintendents,  and  the  best 
plans  for  schools  in  incorporated  towns  and  cities. 

In  1849,  the  cholera  visited  Ohio.  On  account  of  it,  the 
semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Teachers'  Association,  which  was 
to  have  been  held  at  Springfield  in  June,  was  postponed. 
There  was  very  general  depression  throughout  the  State  in  the 
summer  of  that  year,  and  educational  enterprise  was  conse 
quently  retarded,  but  very  decided  measures  were  taken  in  a 
large  number  of  towns  to  secure  Union  schools,  and  in  the 
second  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  at 
Columbus,  December,  1849,  a  majority  of  the  counties  of  the 
State  had  representatives.  Samuel  Galloway  was  again  elected 
President,  and  Asa  D.  Lord  was  continued  as  Chairman  of 
the  Executive  Committee. 


372  SUPERINTENDENCE   OF  THE  STATE   DEPARTMENT. 

Addresses  were  delivered  by  the  President  on  the  import 
ance  of  Universal  Education,  and  by  S.  Ilanbury  Smith  on 
the  Animal  Kingdom.  Reports  were  presented  upon  a  vari 
ety  of  topics  affecting  practically  the  prosperity  and  efficiency 
of  the  public  schools.  A  series  of  resolutions,  presented  by 
Lorin  Andrews,  demanding  a  Board  of  School  Commissioners, 
and  an  educational  paper,  under  State  authority,  were  dis 
cussed  and  adopted. 

Mr.  Galloway  included  these  resolutions,  in  his  report  for 
1849 ;  to  the  General  Assembly — his  last  report  as  Secretary 
of  State.  The  plan  for  the  State  superintendence  of  schools 
they  provided,  was  diligently  urged  upon  the  Legislature. 

A  committee  to  memorialize  the  General  Assembly,  con 
sisting  of  A.  D.  Lord,  II.  H.  Barney  and  Milo  G.  Williams, 
had  been  appointed  by  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  and 
that  committee  did  not  fail  to  discharge  its  duty.  Educational 
journals  supported  the  resolutions,  and  from  several  counties, 
influential  petitions  were  sent  in  praying  for  the  commission. 

W.  B.  Fairchild,  representative  from  Greene  county,  pre 
sented  a  bill,  embodying  the  plan  recommended  by  the 
Teachers'  Association,  in  its  main  features,  and  that  bill  be 
came  a  law,  but  so  late  in  the  session  that  no  appointments 
were  made  under  it,  and  consequently  it  failed  to  go  into 
operation.* 

Perhaps  in  summing  up  the  results  of  the  labors  of  educa 
tionalists  in  Ohio,  during  the  period  of  four  years  previous  to 
1849,  no  better  idea  of  the  effect  of  those  labors  can  be  given 
than  may  be  afforded  in  the  fact  that  then  Grammar  and 
Geography  were,  for  the  first  time,  required  to  be  taught  in 
public  schools. 

That  the  statistics  of  common  schools,  as  reported  to  tho 
State  Department,  may  be  compared  with  those  given  in  pre 
vious  chapters — from  1837  to  1845 — we  present  the  following: 

*  Sec  page  189,  for  an  abstract  of  the  law. 


SUPERINTENDENCE  OF  THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT. 


373 


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jo   -o 


looqog  ;o 


374  ACTION    UNDER   THE    NEW   CONSTITUTION. 


CHAPTER    V. 
ACTION  UNDER  THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION. 

IN  1850,  a  Convention  for  the  formation  of  a  new  State 
Constitution  was  a  topic  of  public  discussion.  It  had 
authorized  by  the  Legislature  of  1849-50,  and  the  electii 
for  members  having  been  held  in  the  spring  of  1850,  edqga- 
tional  men,  expecting  from  it  a  revision  of  the  School  System 
of  the  State,  circulated  petitions,  and  made  zealous  efforts  to 
keep  up  the  interest  in  public  schools  which  had  been  produc 
tive  of  so  much  good  in  1848  and  1849. 

A.  D.  Lord's  Journal  of  Education  had  been  united,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  year  1850,  with  Smith's  Western 
School  Friend,  at  Cincinnati.  M.  Hazen  White,  who  had 
edited  the  Friend  for  several  years,  retired,  and  A.  D.  Lord, 
H.  II.  Barney,  C.  Knowlton  and  Joseph  Kay,  were  employed 
to  conduct  it.  It  was  an  interesting  and  efficient  organ  of 
school  reform. 

Samuel  Galloway  had  been  succeeded  in  the  Secretary  of 
States'  office  by  Henry  W.  King,  an  active  friend  of  the  com 
mon  school  cause. 

During  1850,  Educational  Societies  and  Teachers'  Institutes 
were  maintained  in  a  larger  number  of  counties  than  had  re 
ceived  the  benefits  of  them  during  any  previous  year>  and  to 
the  Legislature  for  1850-1,  Mr.  King,  as  School  Superintend 
ent,  reported  favorably.  He  gave  a  clear  revision  of  the 
School  Laws  of  the  State,  and  recommended  such  legislation, 
as  would  embrace  in  one  act,  the  good  features  of  those  in 
force.  Mr.  Galloway,  in  1849,  received  school  reports  from 
all  the  counties  in  the  State,  except  Adams,  Brown,  Hardiu, 


ACTION   UNDER   THE   NEW   CONSTITUTION.  375 

Miami  and  Pickaway,  but  complained  (as  had  all  his  prede 
cessors)  of  the  general  imperfection  of  the  reports.  Mr.  King 
received  reports,  in  1850,  from  all  the  counties,  except  eight. 
He  repeated  Mr.  Galloway's  complaint,  upon  the  imperfection 
of  reports,  and,  without  exception,  his  successors  reiterated 
it.  The  counties  from  which  no  reports  at  all  were  received 
in  1850,  were  Guernsey,  Jefferson,  Pickaway,  Scioto,  Yinton 
and  Williams.  Returns  for  Marion  and  Miami  came  after  the 
Secretary's  Report  had  been  prepared.  In  reference  to  reports, 
Mr.  King  said : 

"  No  report  has  been  received  from  Miami  county,  for  the 
last  five  years.  Prior  to  the  present  year,  no  report  has  been 
received  from  Brown  county  for  five  years ;  and  prior  to  1849, 
no  report  has  been  received  for  four  years  from  the  counties 
of  Carroll,  Coshocton,  Hocking,  Montgomery,  Perry,  Portage, 
Stark  and  Wyandot,  severally;  while,  for  the  same  four 
years,  but  one  report  each  had  been  received  from  the  coun 
ties  of  Crawford,  Darke,  Paulding  and  Wayne.  It  is,  how 
ever,  a  matter  of  much  encouragement,  and  proves,  very 
conclusively,  the  wholesome  influence  which  the  law  of  1848 
has  exerted,  that,  for  the  last  two  years,  during  which  that  law 
has  been  in  operation,  very  good  reports  have  been  received 
from  all  the  twelve  counties  last  named,  excepting  Perry  and 
Paulding.  From  Perry  the  report  for  1849  was  quite  defective, 
while  from  Paulding  the  reports  of  both  years  have  been 
merely  nominal.  The  salutary  influence  of  this  law  is  also 
shown  by  a  comparison  of  the  number  of  counties  which 
were  delinquent,  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  law,  with  the 
number  at  this  time.  The  number  of  counties  from  which 
no  reports  whatever  were  received  at  this  office,  is  as  follows : 
in  1846,  28;  in  1847,  27;  in  1848,  28;  in  1849,  5;  in  1850, 
8 ;  including  the  new  county  of  Yinton,  whose  recent  organiza 
tion  may  have  been  a  sufficient  reason  why  none  should  be 
expected  from  it.  Again,  some  ground  for  the  belief  that  this 
subject  is  receiving  an  increased  attention,  may  be  drawn 
from  the  fact,  that  complete  returns  of  the  enumeration  of 
youth  have  been  received  this  year,  for  the  first  time,  from 
every  county  in  the  State.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  matter 
of  regret  that  since  the  law  of  1848  has  been  in  operation,  a 
few  counties  seem  to  have  been  less  prompt  than  heretofore. 
For  instance,  from  the  county  of  Pickaway  no  reports  have 
been  made  for  the  last  two  years,  while  for  many  years  previous 


376  ACTION    UNDER   THE    NEW   CONSTITUTION. 

they  were  regularly  received.  So,  too,  Guernsey  and  Marion 
counties  have,  this  year,  failed  to  report,  for  the  only  time  in 
six  years."  ****** 

"  The  reports  which  have  been  returned  to  this  office  dur 
ing  the  present  season,  evince  a  deep  and  abiding  interest  in 
the  cause,  on  the  part  of  very  many  of  the  County  Auditors 
throughout  the  State.  Some  twenty-two  of  the  Auditors  have 
made  full  reports,  many  of  them  have  bestowed  great  labor 
in  the  preparation  of  their  reports,  as  well  as  in  the  collection 
of  materials  therefor.  Foremost  among  them,  it  is  no  more 
than  justice  to  mention  those  of  the  counties  of  Hamilton, 
Ilardin,  Holmes,  Licking,  Meigs  and  Wyandot." 

In  1849,  the  Auditor  of  State,  John  Woods,  in  obedi 
ence  to  frequent  inquiries,  whether  the  State  School  Fund 
might  not  be  increased,  suggested  that  the  State  could,  with 
out  inconvenience,  make  the  Fund  $300,000.  Mr.  King 
pressed  this  suggestion  upon  the  Legislature,  and  the  fund 
was  increased  to  the  sum  named.* 

The  State  Teachers'  Association,  held  both  its  semi-annual 
and  its  annual  meeting  in  1850.  The  summer  meeting  was 
at  Springfield,  and  that  in  winter  at  Columbus. 

At  Springfield,  the  number  of  members  of  the  Associations 
was  one  hundred  and  sixty.  Addresses  were  delivered  by 
Rev.  D.  Shephardson,  and  J.  C.  Zachos  of  Cincinnati.  Re 
ports  upon  important  subjects  were  presented  by  experienced 
Teachers,  and  the  Association  resolved,  that  the  Constitution 
of  the  State  ought  to  provide  for  a  Normal  School,  and  for  a 
State  Superintendent. 

A  resolution  taht  each  Clergyman  of  the  State  be  requested  to 
deliver  a  Sermon,  in  October,  on  the  advantages  of  Common 
Schools,  was  passed  without  opposition.  At  the  next  meet 
ing  of  the  Teachers,  there  was  no  report  of  the  number  of 
ministers  who  responded  to  the  resolution,  and  it  can  not  be 
exactly  ascertained,  but  in  several  towns  and  cities  sermons 
were  preached,  which  contributed  materially  to  a  proper  un 
derstanding  of  common  schools,  and  their  bearings  upon  the 
morals  of  community. 

*  Sco  page  191. 


ACTION   UNDER  TIIE   NEW  CONSTITUTION.  377 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Teachers  was  the  most  import 
ant  one  held,  up  to  that  period,  by  the  Association.  Samuel 
Galloway  again  delivered  the  opening  address.  Ira  Mayhew, 
Superintendent  of  Schools  in  Michigan,  gave  a  public  lecture 
upon  Popular  Education,  and  very  important  discussions  were 
had  upon  a  variety  of  resolutions.  The  most  important  of 
the  resolutions  adopted  were,  that  the  School  Laws  should  be 
revised ;  that  the  law  authorizing  a  Board  of  School  Commis 
sioners  should  be  put  in  force,  and  that  the  new  Constitution 
should  recognize  Public  Education  for  all  the  youth  of  the 
State. 

The  resolution  on  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  was  dis 
cussed  at  greater  length  than  any  other  resolution  had  ever 
been  in  the  Association,  and  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  sixty- 
one  to  thirty-one.  On  motion  of  H.  H.  Barney,  it  was  then 
recommended  that  none  but  enlightened  educators  ought  to 
be  appointed  to  office  in  the  Board. 

In  view  of  what  the  Constitutional  Convention  did,  and  of 
the  law  of  1853  framed  under  it,  the  following  resolution, 
adopted  by  a  large  majority,  is  interesting : 

"That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  that  the  organic 
law  of  every  State  should  guarantee  a  free  education  to  all  the 
youth  of  the  State,  and  provide  for  the  establishment  of  schools 
in  which  the  same  shall  be  communicated." 

Isaac  Sams  of  Highland  county,  was  elected  President  of 
the  Association,  and  Lorin  Andrews  was  chosen  Chairman  of 
the  Executive  Committee. 

Mr.  Andrews  was  then  Principal  of  the  Massillon  High 
School.  He  resigned  his  post,  and  voluntarily  became  a 
Common  School  Missionary,  without  assurance  of  any  reward 
but  that  which  springs  from  the  consciousness  of  well  doing. 
He  issued  circulars,  appealing  for  the  interest  and  support  of 
Teachers'  Institutes,  and  immediately  began  a  thorough  can 
vass  of  the  State. 

At  the  July  meeting  of  the  Teachers'  Association  in  Cleve 
land,  an  interesting  and  influential  meeting,  his  disinterested 


378  ACTION   UNDER   THE   NEW  CONSTITUTION. 

labors  were  most  cordially  approved,  and  a  resolution  to  sus 
tain  him  pecuniarily,  unanimously  adopted.  At  the  same 
meeting,  resolutions  were  adopted,  declaring  that  girls  and 
boys  ought  to  sit  in  the  same  room ;  that  phonotypy  was  to 
be  encouraged,  as  a  means  of  teaching  children  to  read ;  and 
that  the  Legislature  ought  to  establish  one  or  more  Houses  of 
Reformation  for  juvenile  offenders. 

Supported  by  the  action  of  the  Teachers'  Association,  and 
encouraged  by  the  favorable  manner  in  which  the  people  had 
received  his  labors,  Mr.  Andrews  devoted  himself  with  renewed 
vigor,  during  the  fall  of  1851.  The  annual  meeting  of  the 
Association  at  Columbus,  in  December  of  that  year,  exhibited 
the  value  of  his  efforts,  in  the  number  of  its  members,  and 
the  character  of  their  action. 

It  was  determined  to  continue  Mr.  Andrews  as  State  Agent ; 
to  establish  a  monthly  Educational  Journal ;  and  to  petition 
the  Legislature  for  District  School  Libraries,  and  for  a  State 
Superintendent. 

Rev.  W.  C.  Anderson,  President  of  Miami  College,  was 
elected  President  of  the  Association.  Addresses  were  deliv 
ered  by  Joseph  Ray  of  Cincinnati,  I.  W.  Andrews  of  Mari 
etta,  and  George  Willey  of  Cleveland.  The  Convention 
adjourned  to  meet  at  Sandusky  in  July,  1852. 

In  his  report  to  the  Legislature  for  1851,  the  Secretary  of 
State  acknowledged,  in  handsome  terms,  the  good  influence  of 
the  State  Teachers'  Association,  by  its  semi-annual  meetings, 
through  the  labors  of  its  agent,  and  by  means  of  county  Insti 
tutes  and  Associations. 

"  The  teachers  of  the  State  have  shown  a  noble  zeal  and 
energy  in  their  efforts  to  sustain  the  agent  of  the  Association. 
They  have  voluntarily  contributed  for  that  purpose,  about  one 
thousand  dollars,  during  the  past  year,  and  have  pledged 
themselves,  from  different  parts  of  the  State,  to  raise  a  still 
larger  sum  for  the  ensuing  year.  Tiie  heroic  purposes  exhib 
ited  by  this  self-sacrificing  action,  on  the  part  of  the  teachers 
of  Ohio,  is  without  a  parallel  in  any  other  State  in  the  Union, 
and  certainly  augurs  well  for  the  educational  interests  of  this 
State.  With  such  a  corps  of  teachers  in  Ohio,  no  fears  need 


ACTION   UNDER   THE   NEW  CONSTITUTION.  379 

be  entertained  of  the  ultimate  success  of  common  school  edu 
cation,  if  any  considerable  portion  of  their  generosity  can  be 
made  to  characterize  the  legislation  of  the  State. 

"  Were  no  other  end  proposed  by  the  State  Teachers'  Asso 
ciation,  the  effect  of  the  semi-annual  meetings,  held  by  the 
teachers,  could  not  be  otherwise  than  salutary.  The  oppor 
tunities  thus  afforded  of  consulting  upon  topics  which  interest 
the  profession  throughout  the  State,  of  interchanging  senti 
ments  upon  proposed  improvements  in  modes  of  teaching  or 
managing  schools,  would  be  of  great  service  in  harmonizing 
and  concentrating  the  views  of  the  entire  body  of  teachers, 
while  it  would  stimulate  the  less  advanced  to  aim  at  higher 
attainments  in  their  profession." 

In  discussing  the  condition  of  schools  in  the  State,  and 
urging  Legislative  reform,  in  several  respects,  Mr.  King  said, 
in  the  report  from  which  the  above  extract  is  taken : 

"  While  in  many  of  our  towns  and  cities,  schools  of  a  high 
order  have  been,  for  years  past,  sustained  and  fostered  by  the 
municipal  governments  under  which  they  exist ;  while  such 
schools  are,  in  most  instances,  cheerfully  supported  and  cher 
ished  by  the  tax-paying  community,  who  reap  from  them  no 
other  advantages  than  such  as  are  common  also  to  those  who 
pay  nothing  for  their  support,  thus  proving,  abundantly,  that 
our  people  are  willing  to  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  free 
schools,  provided  only  they  are  good,  it  is  yet  lamentably  true, 
that  in  many  portions  of  the  State,  and  probably  in  a  majority 
of  the  counties,  the  common  schools  are  in  a  languishing  con 
dition."  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  No  one  doubts  that  our  school  system  has  already  accom 
plished,  and  is  accomplishing,  a  vast  amount  of  good  to  the 
population  of  the  State.  No  one  doubts  that  we  have,  in  cer 
tain  portions  of  the  State,  and  particularly  in  many  of  its 
towns  and  cities,  public  schools  equal,  perhaps,  to  the  best 
that  can  be  found  elsewhere.  No  one  doubts  that  a  greatly 
improved  public  sentiment  prevails  throughout  the  State  on 
the  whole  subject  of  education;  and  no  one  can  surely  do 
otherwise  than  derive  great  hope  and  sincere  pleasure  from 
these  admitted  truths.  But,  upon  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally 
apparent  that  the  present  school  system  has  its  defects,  more 
or  less  radical ;  that  further  advances  can  be  made ;  and  that 
renewed  health,  and  a  more  vigorous  life  can  be  imparted  to 
it.  All  must  admit,  that  our  schools  do  not,  as  yet,  answer 
the  purpose  for  which  they  were  designed."  *  *  * 


380  ACTION   UNDER  THE   NEW  CONSTITUTION 

"  Abstracts  of  the  returns  made  to  county  Superintendents 
have  been  received  from  all  the  counties  in  the  State,  except 
ing  Brown,  Fulton,  Henry,  Lucas,  Pickaway,  Williams  and 
Wood.'1  ******* 

"  An  examination  of  the  table  of  abstracts,  furnishes  evi 
dence  that  an  improvement  is  gradually  taking  place  in  respect 
to  the  employment  of  female  teachers.  The  relative  number  of 
female  teachers  employed  is  increasing,  though  not  as  rapidly 
as  is  desirable.  Out  of  14,056,  the  whole  number  reported 
for  the  State,  5,706  are  females,  being  about  forty  per  cent. 
In  1849,  the  whole  number  reported  was  12,379,  of  whom 
4,374  were  females,  being  about  thirty-five  per  cent.  In  the 
following  counties  the  number  of  female  teachers  exceeds  the 
males,  viz:  Ashtabula,  Athens,  Cuyahoga,  Defiance,  Dela 
ware,  Erie,  Geauga,  Huron,  Lake,  Lorain,  Mahoning,  Me 
dina,  Meigs,  Ottawa,  Portage,  Trumbull,  Union,  Washington." 
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  A  larger  sum  is  raised  by  a  tax  of  one  mill  upon  the  dol 
lar,  now,  than  was  yielded  by  a  tax  of  two  mills  in  1838.  The 
total  amount  of  taxable  property  upon  the  tax  duplicates  of 
the  different  counties  in  the  State,  in  1838,  was  $106,953,018, 
while  the  amount  now  is  $452,652,708.  A  tax  of  one  mill 
upon  the  dollar  will  therefore  raise  over  $450,000 ;  a  sum 
larger,  by  one-half,  than  the  increased  amount  of  $300,000 
proposed  hereafter  to  be  distributed  by  the  State. 

When  these  provisions  are  carried  out,  and  the  amounts 
thus  required  by  law  are  furnished  by  the  State,  and  by  the 
counties  respectively,  as  will  be  the  case  in  1853,  if  no  changes 
are  made  in  the  law,  the  whole  amount  of  public  funds  (in 
cluding  special  and  trust  funds),  distributed  by  the  State,  and 
contributed  by  the  several  counties,  will  be  but  little,  if  any, 
less  than  one  million  of  dollars.  Meantime  the  provision,  so 
far  as  the  counties  are  concerned,  will  be  made  available  next 
season,  and  our  schools  will  then  begin  to  realize  the  effect  of 
an  increased  expenditure  in  their  behalf." 

To  these  extracts  from  the  Secretary's  report,  may  be  added 
some  paragraphs  of  interest  from  the  report  of  Lorin  Andrews, 
as  the  agent  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association.  They  will 
show  that  the  agent  of  the  teachers  had  nearer  relations  to  the 
school  interests  of  the  State,  and  weightier  influence  for  their 
advancement,  than  the  official  Superintendent : 

"The  committee  commenced  its  labors  with  three  principal 
objects  in  view:  First,  to  grow  up  a  strong  public  senti- 


ACTION   UNDER   THE   NEW  CONSTITUTION.  381 

ment,  which  will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  an  edu 
cational  system,  which  will  afford  to  every  child  in  the  State, 
a  proper  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  development ;  sec 
ond,  to  recommend  to  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  State,  the 
adoption  of  the  Union  School  system  ;  and  third,  to  improve 
teachers  and  elevate  the  profession  of  teaching. 

"  It  is  hoped  that  something  has  been  done  during  the  past 
year  to  advance  each  one  of  these  important  objects.  The 
committee  has  secured  the  delivery  of  more  than  two  hundred 
practical  educational  addresses,  to  large  assemblies  of  citizens 
in  various  parts  of  the  State.  The  minds  and  hearts  of  not 
less  than  sixty  thousand  citizens  of  Ohio,  have  been  appealed 
to  and  influenced  by  the  truths  presented  and  illustrated  in 
these  evening  lectures.  In  addition  to  this,  three  thousand 
teachers,  who  have  been  assembled  in  the  Institutes  during 
the  past  year,  and  whose  love  for  their  profession  has  been 
thereby  increased,  and  their  zeal  for  the  improvement  of  our 
common  schools  has  been  quickened,  have  gone  out  as  effi 
cient,  intelligent  missionaries,  into  three  thousand  distinct 
fields  of  labor,  better  qualified,  not  only  to  teach,  but  also  to 
preach  school.  Through  these  instrumentalities,  it  is  hoped 
much  has  been  done,  and  that  much  more  will  be  done,  for 
the  education  and  elevation  of  a  strong  public  sentiment, 
which  will  demand  4  a  school  system  for  our  State,  unparal 
leled  for  the  liberality  of  its  provisions,  the  wisdom  of  its 
measures,  and  the  harmony  and  efficiency  of  its  operations.' 

"  About  seventy  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  State,  have 
established  Free  Graded  schools,  and  of  these,  more  than  fifty 
have  been  organized  within  the  past  three  years,  and  by  the 
adoption  of  the  law  of  1849  'for  the  better  regulation  of  Pub 
lic  Schools  in  cities,  towns,  etc.'  Although  the  unparalleled 
success  which  has  attended  the  establishment  of  Union  Schools 
in  Ohio,  is  very  encouraging  to  the  friends  of  education,  yet 
it  should  be  remembered  that  there  are  at  least  one  hundred 
and  fifty  remaining  towns  in  the  State  whose  educational 
interests  imperatively  demand  the  immediate  organization  of 
Free  Graded  schools. 

"During  the  past  year,  thirty  towns  have  been  visited,  and 
their  citizens  have  been  publicly  addressed  upon  the  advan 
tages  and  economy  of  the  Union  School  system.  Some  of 
these  towns  have  already  organized  Union  schools ;  and  sev 
eral  others,  it  is  believed,  will  soon  follow  their  good  ex 
ample."  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"In  order  to  elevate  the  profession  of  teaching,  the  com 
mittee  has  principally  relied  upon  the  holding  of  Teachers 


382  ACTION   UNDER  THE   NEW   CONSTITUTION. 

Institutes.  Probably  no  instrumentality  in  so  short  a  time,  and 
at  so  little  expense,  can  effect  so  great  and  extensive  a  work 
for  the  improvement  of  teachers,  as  well-conducted  Institutes. 
In  the  outset  of  its  labors,  the  committee  found  the  great  ob 
stacle  in  the  way  of  holding  Institutes,  was  the  impossibility 
of  securing  the  services  of  a  sufficient  number  of  competent 
and  experienced  Lecturers  to  take  charge  of  them.  The  most 
of  the  teachers  in  the  State,  who  could  thus  be  profitably  em 
ployed,  were  constantly  and  necessarily  engaged  in  their  own 
local  fields  of  labor.  In  order  to  supply,  in  some  small  meas 
ure,  this  deficiency,  the  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  leave  his  c  pleasant  school '  and  generous 
patrons,  and  devote  himself  wholly  to  this  work.  In  February, 
a  circular  was  issued  to  teachers  and  friends  of  education, 
calling  for  aid  in  the  Institutes  proposed  to  be  held  in  the 
spring,  and  a  like  call  was  made  during  the  summer,  in  order 
to  secure  help  for  the  fall  Institutes.  In  both  instances,  the 
appeal  of  the  committee  was  heartily  and  generously  re 
sponded  to  by  a  noble  band  of  men  and  women,  who,  at  a 
great  sacrifice  of  time  and  money,  threw  themselves  resolutely 
into  the  work.  During  the  year,  application  was  made  to  the 
committee  for  aid,  for  forty-five  Institutes;  but  it  was  found 
utterly  impossible  to  supply  all  with  the  desired  assistance, 
at  such  times  as  would  be  convenient ;  and  hence,  to  the 
great  detriment  of  the  cause  of  education,  several  of  the  pro 
posed  Institutes  could  not  be  held.  Several  counties,  such  as 
Stark,  Mahoning,  Crawford,  Seneca,  Ashtabula,  and  Huron 
and  Erie,  were  unaided  by  the  committee  with  Lecturers  from 
a  distance,  because  it  was  well  known  that  they  contained 
within  themselves,  teachers  who,  from  their  experience  and 
qualifications,  could  successfully  instruct  in  their  Institutes. 
Nor  were  the  committee  disappointed  in  the  result,  for  in  no 
counties  have  more  spirited  Institutes  been  held."  *  *  * 

"There  is  a  wide-spread,  hopeful  anticipation,  extensively 
prevalent  in  our  State  at  this  time,  of  efficient  action  in  favor 
of  education  by  the  next  General  Assembly,  the  first  to  con 
vene  under  the  new  Constitution.  Should  the  Legislature 
fail  to  satisfy  these  just  expectations,  a  strong  public  senti 
ment  will  be  grievously  outraged. 

"  In  a  large  number  of  Institutes,  resolutions  were  unani 
mously  passed  in  favor  of  a  more  thorough  supervision  of 
educational  interests,  by  the  appointment  of  a  State  Superin 
tendent  and  four  or  more  District  Superintendents.  It  is  the 
undoubted  opinion  of  the  great  mass  of  teachers  and  friends 


ACTION   UNDER  THE   NEW   CONSTITUTION.  383 

of  education  in  our  State,  that  one  Superintendent  can  not  do 
the  great  work  which  ought  to  be  done."        *  * 

"An  absolutely  necessary  prerequisite  to  the  permanent 
and  proper  improvement  of  the  country  schools,  is  an  en 
largement  of  the  school  districts.  In  brief,  some  of  the  many 
advantages  of  an  enlargement  of  school  districts,  would  be  a 
better  classification  of  pupils;  a  less  frequent  change  of 
teachers  and  text-books,  more  system  and  skill  in  the  meth 
ods  of  teaching  and  governing ;  a  much  less  expenditure  of 
money  for  the  same  amount  of  instruction  ;  longer  sessions  of 
the  schools ;  thus  teaching  would  become  a  permanent  em 
ployment;  teachers  would  be  better  qualified,  and  pupils  at 
fourteen  years  of  age  would  be  made  better  scholars  than  now 
at  twenty." 

The  educational  questions  before  the  people  of  Ohio  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1852,  were  the  importance  of  Union 
schools — the  necessity  of  Normal  schools — the  need  of  a  State 
Superintendent — the  advantage  of  School  Libraries,  and  the 
full  recognition,  by  statute,  of  the  doctrine  that  the  property 
of  the  State  should  educate  the  children  of  the  State. 

In  his  report  for  1851,  the  Secretary  of  State  argued  with 
spirit  the  justice  of  the  claims  made  by  the  friends  of  Uni 
versal  Education  for  these  measures.  In  reference  to  the 
encouragement  of  Union  schools,  he  made  suggestions  which 
deserve  to  be  remembered.  He  said: 

"  In  a  large  portion  of  the  State,  the  townships  are  laid  off 
in  a  square  form,  and  in  sizes  varying  from  five  to  six  squares. 
They  are  usually  intersected  by  roads  running  across  them, 
at  convenient  distances,  and  have  one  or  more  settlements, 
more  often  occurring  near  the  middle  of  the  township  than  at 
any  other  point.  Now,  if  one  or  more  schools  of  a  higher 
grade,  corresponding  to  the  Central  or  High  School  of  the 
Union  school  system,  could  be  established  at  suitable  points 
in  the  township — say  at  the  points  where  the  thickest  settle 
ments  have  been  made — adapted  to  scholars  of  greater  age 
and  better  attainments  in  their  studies,  it  would  unquestion 
ably  be  an  advantage — an  inestimable  advantage — to  all  the 
schools,  and  to  all  the  youth  in  such  township."  *  *  * 

"It  may  indeed  be  doubted,  whether  a  single  well-con 
ducted  High  School,  in  many  of  the  townships  of  the  State, 
would  not  do  more  to  educate  the  youth  of  the  township,  than 
all  schools  now  taught  therein.  Witness  the  salutary  influence 


384:  ACTION    UNDER   THE   NEW   CONSTITUTION. 

which  a  single  academy  will  often  exert  upon  the  community 
in  which  it  is  taught.  Witness  the  influence  often  exerted  by 
a  single  pupil  of  such  an  academy,  in  the  family  circle  to 
which  he  or  she  may  belong ;  and  especially  upon  the  younger 
members  of  the  family.  But  the  Union  High  School  can 
easily  be  made  as  good  as  the  best  of  academies,  and  many, 
if  not  all  the  townships  of  the  State,  can  be  supplied  with  one 
or  more  such  schools.  Nothing  is  required  to  accomplish 
this  desirable  result,  but  proper  energy  on  the  part  of  parents 
and  guardians,  and  a  moderate  increase  of  funds  now  ex 
pended  upon  schools  of  comparatively  little  value." 

In  his  views  the  Secretary  was  supported  by  the  Governor,* 
and  both  these  officers  were  sustained  by  the  Agent  of  the 
State  Teachers'  Association,  and  by  the  leading  newspapers 
throughout  the  State. 

The  need  of  a  State  Educational  journal,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Association,  as  well  as  the  necessity  of  a  Normal 
school,  had  been  regular  topics  of  private  and  public  dis 
course,  before  the  Association  was  two  years  old.  The  Asso 
ciation  did  not  feel  strong  enough,  however,  to  undertake 
even  the  desired  journal,  until  1852. 

A  monthly  journal,  called  the  Ohio  Teacher,  was  started 
by  Thomas  Rainey,  in  1851,  which  was  encouraged  by  many 
leading  educators  ;  but  it  did  not  represent  generally  the  sen 
timent  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  and  was  inefficient 
and  short-lived. 

At  the  annual  meeting  for  1851,  as  before  stated,  a  monthly 
organ  was  determined  upon,  and  Asa  D.  Lord  was  elected 
resident  editor,  with  II.  II.  Barney  of  Cincinnati,  M.  F.  Cow- 
dery  of  Sandusky,  J.  "W.  Andrews  of  Marietta,  J.  C.  Zachos 
of  Dayton,  and  Andrew  Freese  of  Cleveland,  associate  editors. 
Members  of  the  Association  pledged  a  list  of  twelve  hundred 
subscribers,  and  the  Journal  was  commenced  with  spirit.  It 
supported  with  vigor  the  action  of  the  Association,  and  had 
weighty  influence  in  the  educational  movements  of  1852 
and  1853. 

*See  page  237. 


ACTION   UNDER  THE   NEW   CONSTITUTION.  385 

The  action  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  and  of  the 
first  General  Assembly  under  it,  by  which  the  common  school 
system  of  Ohio  was  revised,  is  so  well  sketched  in  another 
part  of  this  work,*  that  it  is  proper  here  to  pass  immediately 
to  the  events  which  directly  preceded  the  official  career  of  the 
first  State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools. 

But  it  is  not  improper  to  remind  the  reader,  that  the  new 
law  was,  in  the  main,  a  consolidation  of  statutes  in  force ;  and 
that  in  its  new  features,  no  great  educational  needs  were 
recognized,  which  had  not  been  discussed  and  plead  for  by 
Ohio  educators  during  twenty  years. 

As  described  by  H.  H.  Barney,  the  prominent  provisions 
which  were  new — improvements  in  the  estimation  of  those 
who  advocated  and  enacted  the  law — may  be  stated  as 
follows : 

1.  A  State  school  tax  was  substituted  for  the  county  tax. 

2.  A  township  Board  of  Education,  consisting  of  a  repre 
sentative  from  each  district  (or  sub-district,  in  the  language 
of  the  act),  succeed  to  the  power,  previously  vested  in  the 
township  trustees,  of  making  or  altering  districts,  and   are 
intrusted  with  the  general  administration  of  schools  in  the 
township,  the  assessment  of  taxes  requisite  for  the  construc 
tion  and  repair  of  school-houses,  the  selection  of  their  sites, 
the  title,  care,  and  preservation  of  all  school  property,  and 
kindred  duties  not  inconsistent  with  those  enjoined  upon  the 
local  directors  in  each  sub-district. 

3.  "Free  education  to  all  the  youth  in  the  State,"  and  the 
abolition  of  rate  bills. 

4.  A  fund  of  one-tenth  of  a  mill  yearly,  "for  the  purpose 
of  furnishing  school  libraries  and  apparatus  to  all  the  com 
mon  schools  in  the  State." 

5.  The  supervision  of  the  system  by  a  State  Commissioner 
of  common  schools. 

No  words  are  here  necessary  to  show  any  one  who  has 
read  the  foregoing  pages  attentively,  that  the  law  of  1853 
was  not  in  advance  of  the  general  educational  sentiments,  or 
of  the  practical  ability  of  the  State. 

*  See  pages  211  to  244. 
25 


386  ACTION   UNDER   THE   NEW   CONSTITUTION. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

IK 

ACTION  UNDER  THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION  CONTINUED. 


WILLIAM  TREVTTT,  elected  Secretary  of  State  under  the  new 
Constitution,  succeeded  Ilenry  W.  King  in  1852.  In  his 
report  on  the  condition  of  common  schools  for  that  year,  to 
an  adjourned  Session  of  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Trevitt  confined 
himself  mainly  to  a  presentation  of  statistics,  but  repeated  with 
zeal  the  argument  of  his  predecessor,  in  favor  of  a  revision 
of  the  school  system. 

At  the  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Teachers'  Association,  in 
Sandusky,  the  school  bill,  reported  by  the  Senate  committee 
the  winter  previous,  was  indorsed  by  three  hundred  teachers, 
representing  the  interests  of  education  in  forty-three  counties 
of  the  State. 

At  the  time  of  this  semi-annual  meeting  in  Sandusky,  an 
Association  was  formed  for  the  promotion  of  Female  educa 
tion.  There  had  been,  from  time  to  time  for  ten  years,  active 
interest  in  different  localities  for  that  purpose,  but  the  move 
ment  of  July,  1852,  was  the  first  one,  general  in  its  scope. 

P.  B.  Wilber  of  Cincinnati,  was  elected  President,  and  A. 
D.  Lord  Secretary;  J.  C.  Zachos  of  Dayton  was  chosen  chair 
man  of  the  Executive  Committee.  Questions  of  importance 
were  discussed,  and  gentlemen  of  experience  were  appointed 
to  report  upon  them,  at  Columbus,  in  December  following. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Teachers'  Association,  M.  F. 
Cowdery  delivered  an  address,  in  which,  speaking  of  what 
he  knew  from  observation,  he  said : 

"Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  recent  history  of  our 
State,  are  aware,  that  five  years  since,  the  cities  and  larger 


ACTION   UNDER  THE   NEW   CONSTITUTION   CONTINUED.      387 

towns  of  Ohio,  with  two  or  three  exceptions,  perhaps,  were 
entirely  destitute  of  a  system  of  classified  public  schools, — 
generally,  nearly  or  quite  destitute  of  school  buildings  of  any 
value,  and  as  might  well  be  expected,  destitute  of  proper  dis 
cipline,  as  well  as  properly  digested  systematic  courses  of 
instruction. 

"  Nurseries  of  confusion  instead  of  order,  of  coarseness  and 
obscenity  instead  of  refinement  and  delicacy,  they  had  sunk 
so  low  in  public  estimation,  that  many  a  good  citizen  had 
felt  the  conviction,  that  the  common  school  system  could 
never  prove  a  suitable  and  reliable  agency  for  educating  the 
children  of  the  State.  The  duty  which  public  authorities  had 
assumed,  of  providing  wholesome  instruction  for  the  young, 
had,  for  a  series  of  years,  either  been  so  unfaithfully  met,  or 
the  wrhole  system  had  within  it  such  intrinsic  elements  of 
weakness  and  decay,  that  all  expenditures  of  talent  and  money 
upon  it  seemed  to  promise  but  slight  returns  of  beneficial 
results  to  society.  Private  tutors,  private  institutions,  pri 
vate  and  special  instruction  in  some  form,  seemed  to  be  the 
only  alternative  to  the  parent  deeply  anxious  for  a  suitable 
education  for  his  offspring.  In  the  country  school  districts, 
better  confidence  prevailed,  scarcely  better  buildings  and  no 
better  classification. 

"We  have  the  rich  and  rare  pleasure,  now,  of  witnessing 
important  changes  in  the  educational  condition  of  our  State. 
Great  interests  that  seemed  in  imminent  peril,  through  the 
neglect  or  indifference  of  their  proper  guardians,  have  re 
ceived  some  attention,  some  thought,  some  sympathy.  In 
three-fourths  of  the  towns  of  Ohio,  with  a  population  of  one 
thousand  inhabitants  and  upward,  substantial  school  build 
ings  have  been  erected  by  the  free  contributions  of  the  people ; 
the  schools  themselves  have  been  more  or  less  accurately 
classified,  thus  preparing  the  way  in  the  best  possible  manner 
for  all  other  practicable  improvements ;  and  lastly,  the  confi 
dence  of  the  public  in  the  capacity  of  the  common  school 
system  to  afford  a  suitable  education  to  all,  has  been  almost 
immeasurably  increased." 

The  teachers  who  heard  these  words,  elected  Joseph  Kay 
of  Cincinnati,  as  the  president  of  the  Association  for  1853, 
and  determined  to  continue  Lorin  Andrews  as  chairman  of 
the  Executive  committee,  and  as  State  agent.  Fifteen  hun 
dred  dollars  a  year  were  guaranteed  Mr.  Andrews,  as  a 
salary;  and  he  was  encouraged  to  go  on,  as  he  had  begun, 


388       ACTION   UNDER   THE  NEW   CONSTITUTION  CONTINUED. 

in  the  strongest  language  which  could  be  summoned  by  the 
committee  on  resolutions. 

Mr.  Andrews  reported  to  the  Association,  that  thirty-one 
Institutes  had  been  held  in  1852 — that  the  Journal  of  Edu 
cation  had  proved  self-supporting,  with  an  edition  of  three 
thousand  copies ;  and  that  Union  schools  were  being  liberally 
encouraged.  Reviewing  the  past,  and  hoping  for  the  future, 
he  said : 

"  There  are  about  eighty  Union  schools  in  operation  in  the 
State.  Their  statistics  indicate  that  the  school-houses,  includ 
ing  the  grounds  attached,  are  worth  about  $750,000 ;  that  the 
total  annual  expenditures  for  the  support  of  these  schools, 
including  the  cost  of  fuel  and  the  interest  on  the  value  of 
school  buildings  amount  to  about  $325,000 ;  and  that  the 
average  length  of  the  school  year  is .  over  ten  months.  The 
above  figures  are  clearly  indicative  of  a  readiness  on  the  part 
of  the  people  of  Ohio,  to  adopt  liberal  measures  for  the  im 
provement  of  public  schools."  *  *  *  * 

"Gratifying  evidences  of  an  increased  and  increasing  edu 
cational  spirit,  present  themselves  in  every  portion  of  our 
great  State.  During  the  last  five  years,  many  school  build 
ings  have  been  erected  in  Ohio,  which,  by  the  amplitude  of 
their  structure,  the  commodiousness  of  their  plan  and  the 
beauty  of  their  finish,  would  do  honor  to  the  wealth  and  liber 
ality  of  older  States,  more  than  one  million  of  dollars  has 
been  raised  to  endow  higher  institutions  of  learning ;  at  least 
eight  thousand  teachers  have  been  assembled  in  Institutes, 
and  have  thus  been  better  prepared  to  act  efficiently  as  mis 
sionaries  in  the  great  work  of  education,  the  professional 
teachers  of  the  State,  by  their  untiring  efforts,  their  self-sacri 
ficing  spirit,  and  the  bold  comprehensiveness  of  their  plans, 
have  not  only  done  themselves  lasting  honor,  but  they  have 
set  an  example  worthy  of  imitation  by  the  teachers  of  other 
States ;  from  a  condition  of  great  indifference  on  the  subject 
of  education,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  have  become 
friends  and  advocates  of  free  schools,  and  now,  more  than 
one-half  of  the  five  hundred  millions  of  property  in  the  great 
State  of  Ohio,  by  the  voluntary  votes  of  its  possessors,  is  taxed 
to  support  schools  which  afford  the  advantages  of  intellectual 
and  moral  culture,  as  free  as  the  air  of  heaven  to  the  children 
of  the  State,  and  in  addition  to  these  evidences  of  progress, 
we  now  have,  what  we  have  not  very  frequently  had — a  Gen 
eral  Assembly,  the  members  of  which  seem  anxiously  to 


ACTION  UNDER  THE  NEW   CONSTITUTION  CONTINUED.        389 

desire  to  advance  the  interests  of  education  by  prudent  and 
proper  legislative  action." 

The  Teachers'  Association  expressed  sympathy  with  the 
movement  for  Female  education,  and  at  a  meeting  of  the 
friends  who  had  organized  at  Sandusky,  Mr.  Wilber  was 
re-elected  President,  and  Dr.  Lord  Secretary  of  the  Associa 
tion  for  the  Education  of  Women. 

The  year  1853,  opened  under  auspices  favorable  to  educa 
tion  ;  auspices  more  favorable  than  had  ever  crowned  the 
opening  of  a  year  in  Ohio.  The  Journal  of  Education,  in  a 
salutatory  for  its  second  volume,  congratulated  the  Teachers 
of  Ohio,  and  the  friends  of  education,  as  follows : 

"In  no  other  country,  in  no  State  of  our  Union,  has  a 
body  of  Teachers  attempted  what  has  been  undertaken  here. 
Teachers  have  generally  been  content  to  follow  the  lead  of 
Boards  of  Education,  to  go  forward  in  the  work  of  improving 
themselves,  and  elevating  their  schools  as  fast,  and  as  far  as 
the  requisitions  or  the  demands  of  public  sentiment  required. 
In  the  absence  of  correct  views  of  the  importance  of  provid 
ing  the  means  of  educating  all  the  youth  of  the  State,  and  of 
efficient  legislation  for  the  promotion  of  this  object,  our  Asso 
ciation  has  undertaken  to  disseminate,  as  widely  as  possible, 
by  the  aid  of  the  press,  and  the  living  speaker,  such  informa 
tion  as  will  lead  to  the  formation  of  correct  opinions  on  this 
whole  subject,  impress  upon  the  minds  of  all  an  abiding  con 
viction  of  the  magnitude  of  the  interest  involved,  and  as  soon  as 
possible  secure  from  the  Legislature  a  School  System,  which, 
in  the  comprehensiveness  of  its  policy,  the  liberality  of  its 
provisions,  and  the  efficiency  of  its  administration  shall  be 
worthy  of  the  State,  and  the  age  in  which  we  live." 

These  words  were  true  and  well  deserved.  The  fifth  semi 
annual  meeting  of  the  Association  at  Dayton,  in  July,  1853, 
added  additional  significance  to  them.  Rev.  E.  V.  Gerheart 
delivered  an  address  upon  "  Government  in  its  Relations 
to  Education,"  and  Chauncey  N".  Olds  spoke  upon  "The 
Bible  as  a  Basis  of  Education ;"  Benn  Pitman  addressed  the 
Teachers  upon  Phonetic  Reform,  and  discussions  were  had 
and  resolutions  were  adopted,  showing  that  the  Teachers  of 
the  Association  were  well  prepared  for  the  increased  advan- 


390        ACTION   UNDER   THE   NEW  CONSTITUTION  CONTINUED. 

tages  to  them  and  to  their  pupils,  promised  under  the  law  of 
the  March  previous. 

A  new  force  was  added  to  the  educational  instrumentalities 
of  the  State,  by  the  appointment,  at  Dayton,  of  C.  S.  Royce, 
as  Agent  of  the  State  Phonetic  Society,  which  had  been  or 
ganized  in  January,  1853,  with  Elias  Longley  of  Cincinnati, 
as  President. 

Mr.  Royce  issued  circulars  to  the  friends  of  education  and 
to  educational  societies,  offering  his  services  as  a  lecturer ;  and 
from  that  time  up  to  the  present,  has  been  a  self-sacrificing 
laborer  for  the  promotion  of  the  general  interests  of  education 
as  well  as  for  the  furtherance  of  Phonetic  sentiment,  and  the 
imparting  of  Phonetic  instruction. 

The  new  law  abolished  the  official  relations  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  State  to  the  common  schools,  but  made  no  provision 
for  supplying  the  deficiency,  consequently  a  State  School  De 
partment  was  wanting,  until  February,  1854,  and  the  act 
went  into  operation  under  great  disadvantages.  It  was  sus 
tained,  however,  with  vigor  by  the  Agent  of  the  Teachers' 
Association,  and  by  nearly  all  the  teachers  of  every  county; 
yet,  lacking  an  official  exponent  and  defender,  met  opposition, 
which,  under  other  circumstances,  might  not  have  been  ar 
rayed  against  it.  The  Secretary  of  State  gave  it  attention 
whenever  called  upon;  but,  having  no  authority,  except  that 
which  grew  out  of  the  prestige  of  his  office  in  the  past,  his 
influence  was  not  weighty. 

Lorin  Andrews,  and  H.  H.  Barney,  were  the  candidates 
for  the  office  of  School  Commissioner,  created  by  the  law  of 
1853.  Mr.  Barney  was  elected.  To  the  Legislature  of  1853-4, 
in  response  to  a  Senate  resolution,  he  reported  a  series  of  an 
swers  to  questions  on  the  School  Law,  but  his  first  regular 
report  was  made  for  the  year  1854. 

His  communication  to  the  Senate  was  published  with  a 
report  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  of  what  statistics  had  been 
sent  him,  and  a  report  upon  petitions  respecting  the  School 
Law,  from  a  Senate  Committee,  consisting  of  G.  W.  Stokes, 
Ik -lip  Williams  and  Ira  Norris.  This  committee  was  in 


ACTION  UNDER  THE   NEW  CONSTITUTION  CONTINUED.        391 

favor  of  the  School  System,  established  by  the  new  law.  Com 
mending  a  few  minor  amendments,  they  presented  a  sketch 
of  the  opposition,  which  can  best  be  understood  in  their  own 
words : 

"  The  whole  number  of  petitions,  praying  for  the  repeal  or 
alteration  of  the  present  school  law,  is  forty-one ;  twenty -five 
of  these  are  from  the  counties  of  Ashtabula  and  Bichland,  and 
the  balance  from  Fairfield,  Ashland,  Morrow,  Montgomery, 
Crawford,  Holmes  and  Cuyahoga,  seventy-nine  counties 
having  sent  upfno  petitions,  requesting  either  the  repeal  or 
alteration  of  the  school  law. 

"  The  entire  number  of  petitioners  is,  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-three ;  of  these,  nine  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  reside  in  Ashtabula  and  Richland  counties,  and  four- 
fifths  of  the  whole  number  reside  in  the  five  counties  of  Ash 
tabula,  Richland,  Fairfield,  Morrow  and  Ashland. 

"  More  than  one-half  of  the  petitioners,  virtually  pray  for 
the  repeal  of  the  entire  law ;  and  nearly  all  desire  the  aboli 
tion  of  the  office  of  State  Commissioner  of  common  schools, 
and  the  repeal  of  the  provisions  of  the  law,  creating  Town 
ship  Boards  of  Education,  and  authorizing  a  State  tax  of 
one-tenth  of  one  mill  on  the  dollar  valuation,  for  the  purpose 
of  furnishing  school  apparatus  and  libraries  to  all  the  com 
mon  schools  of  the  State. 

"  A  large  number  of  the  petitioners  pray  for  a  reduction  of 
the  State  levy,  and  assessment  of  two  mills  on  the  dollar, 
which  was  created  for  the  express  purpose  of  affording  the 
advantages  of  a  free  education  to  all  the  youth  of  this  State ; 
also  for  the  restoration  of  the  old  independent  district  system  ; 
also  for  the  election  of  school  examiners-  at  the  annual  town 
ship  meetings ;  also  for  vesting  in  the  local  directors  the  right 
to  employ  teachers  without  certificates  of  qualification,  and  to 
keep  their  schools  in  session  such  length  of  time  as  may  be 
agreed  on  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  district. 

"  Inasmuch  as  the  great  bulk  of  the  petitions  and  memo 
rials  have  come  from  less  than  one-twentieth  of  the  counties 
in  the  State,  the  others  having  solicited  no  changes  directly  or 
indirectly ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  prayers  of  these  petitioners 
are  exceedingly  diverse,  and  the  reasons  assigned  for  them 
are  still  more  diverse,  the  committee  can  not  derive  from  them 
any  satisfactory  indication  of  what  the  petitioners  themselves 
most  desire;  and  much  less  the  general  wish  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people."  *  *  *  * 

"  It  is  believed  that  the  law  is  in  perfect  accordance  with 


392        ACTION   UNDER   THE   NEW  CONSTITUTION   CONTINUED. 

the  educational  spirit  and  tendency  of  the  age,  and  of  tho 
grand  idea  that  the  great  end  of  public  instruction  is  not 
merely  to  have  schools,  but  to  have  good  schools,  having  all 
the  means  and  appliances  calculated  to  arouse  thought,  disci 
pline  mind,  form  good  mental  habits  and  tastes,  and  cultivate 
good  principles." 

The  committee,  except  upon  the  tax  clause,  agreed  in 
reporting  against  material  changes  in  the  law.  Mr.  Norris 
dissented  on  this  point,  contending  that  one  and  a  half  mills 
levy  was  sufficient. 

Mr.  Barney  published  an  able  pamphlet,  in  answer  to  the 
petitions,  which,  with  the  report  just  quoted  from,  and  the 
active  personal  exertions  of  friends  of  education,  was  suffi 
cient  to  prevent  the  Legislature  from  impairing  the  efficiency 
of  the  law.* 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  teachers  in  1853,  Horace 
Mann  delivered  an  address  on  the  "  Motives  of  Teachers," 
and  Ilev.  Dr.  Thompson  lectured  upon  "  The  Moral  Influence 
of  the  Teacher." 

Lorin  Andrews  resigned  his  agency  and  his  post  as  Chair 
man  of  the  Executive  Committee.  He  reported  a  still  grow 
ing  interest  in  schools,  and  gave  statistics  of  thirty-eight 
Institutes  for  1853.  He  said  there  were  about  one  hundred 
Graded  Schools  in  the  State,  and  was  confident  that  rural  dis 
tricts  were  to  be  benefited  by  the  new  law.  A.  D.  Lord  was 
elected  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  Agent  of 
the  Association,  and  Mr.  Andrews  was  unanimously  chosen 
President. 

For  several  years  the  teachers  had  discussed  the  need  of  a 
State  Normal  School,  and  in  1853  it  was  determined  that  the 
Association  should  take  the  initiatory  steps  for  the  establish 
ment  of  such  a  school. 

This  determination  was  realized  in  the  summer  of  1855, 
when  Cyrus  HcKeely  of  Hopedale,  Harrison  county,  pre 
sented  the  Association  with  land  and  buildings,  valued  at 

*  See  page  233. 


ACTION  UNDEK  THE  HEW  CONSTITUTION   CONTINUED.        393 

$11,000,  and  the  teachers  accepted  the  gift,  pledging  them 
selves  to  contribute  $10,000  for  the  support  of  the  Institution ; 
a  pledge  they  have  nobly  fulfilled. 

Before  sketching  Mr.  Barney's  official  relations  to  the  com 
mon  schools  of  Ohio,  we  may  take  notice  that  the  Teachers' 
Association  held  regularly,  during  1854,  '55  and  '56,  its  semi 
annual  and  annual  meetings.  Growing  each  year  in  interest 
and  solid  character,  it  must  continue  to  exert  upon  educational 
movements  directly,  and  upon  schools  indirectly,  influences 
which  cannot  be  too  highly  regarded  by  those  who  have  pride 
and  hope  in  our  common  school  system. 

Andrew  J.  Rickoff  of  Cincinnati,  succeeded  Lorin  Andrews 
as  President,  and  he  was  succeeded  in  1856  by  Rev.  Anson 
Smyth  of  Toledo,  who  had  been  chosen  editor  of  the  Journal 
of  Education,  at  the  resignation  of  A.  D.  Lord,  in  1855. 
John  Hancock  of  Cincinnati,  succeeded  Dr.  Lord,  as  Chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  he  now  holds  that  place. 
M.  F.  Cowdery,  who  through  all  the  trials  of  the  Association, 
has  been  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee,  is  likely  to 
guard  its  pecuniary  interest  during  life. 

The  Association  was  addressed",  during  the  three  years, 
about  which  we  now  write,  by  I.  W.  Andrews,  on  "  The 
Teachers'  Calling,"  and  James  W.  Taylor  on  "  The  History 
of  Ohio,"  at  Zanesville,  in  July,  1854;  by  Rufus  King  of 
Cincinnati,  on  "The  Responsibilities  of  Teachers,"  and  Jehu 
Brainard  of  Cleveland,  on  "Natural  Sciences,"  at  Cincinnati, 
in  December,  1854 ;  by  J.  M.  Root  of  Sandusky,  and  Rev.  J. 
A.  Thome  at  Cleveland,  in  July,  1855 ;  by  Rev.  D.  S.  Bur 
nett,  on  the  "  Life  and  Character  of  Joseph  Ray,"  and  Melvin 
Clark  of  Marietta,  on  "Popular  Education  as  an  Element  of 
Republicanism,"  in  December,  1855 ;  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Bittenger 
of  Cleveland,  on  "The  Will,  as  an  Educational  Power,"  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock  of  Western  Reserve  College,  on  "  Intel 
lectual  Life,"  at  Mansfield,  in  July,  1856 ;  by  Rev.  W.  S. 
Kennedy  of  Sandusky,  on  "  What  Common  Schools  should 
be ;"  by  W.  T.  Coggeshall,  oil  "  The  History  of  Common 
School  Movements  in  Ohio ;"  and  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Walker  of 


394       ACTION   UNDER  THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION   CONTINUED. 

Mansfield,  on  "  Faith,  as  a  Basis  of  Moral  and  Intellectual 
Life,"  at  Columbus,  in  December,  1856. 

Without  explicit  acknowledgment  of  the  good  accomplished 
by  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  it  would  be  unfair  to  close 
this  chapter.  In  his  first  report  (for  1854)  as  Agent  of  the  As 
sociation,  Dr.  Lord  gave  a  summary  of  what  had  been  accom 
plished  since  its  organization,  which  can  be  here  fitly  quoted : 

"  During  the  year  1847,  in  which  our  society  was  formed, 
the  whole  sum  appropriated  by  the  State  for  education  of 
754,193  children  and  youth  of  school  age,  was  $288,660  55, 
or  a  little  more  than  thirty-eight  cents  per  scholar.  IIow 
many  were  benefited  by  the  schools  of  that  year  is  not  known, 
as  the  number  of  scholars  enrolled  was  reported  from  only 
ten  counties,  and  the  average  attendance  from  only  forty-six 
of  the  eighty-three  counties.  Judging  from  those  reported, 
about  500,000  were  enrolled,  and  the  average  attendance  was 
about  140,000.  During  the  past  year,  the  number  of  children 
enumerated  was  811,957;  the  whole  sum  appropriated  by  the 
State  was  $1,233,276  26,  or  $1.51  for  each  youth  between  five 
and  twenty-one  years ;  the  number  enrolled  in  the  schools  was 
612,185,  and  the  average  daily  attendance,  367,594.  So  that 
the  State  paid  $2.01  for  each  child  instructed,  and  $3.35  for 
each  one  in  actual  daily  attendance. 

"  At  the  commencement  of  1847,  there  was  not  a  single 
well  organized  Public  High  School  in  the  State;  now  there 
are  more  than  forty,  in  which  a  thorough  Academic  education 
is  given,  beside  nearly  an  equal  number  in  which  instruction 
is  given  in  some  of  the  higher  branches.  Then,  no  city  or 
town  in  the  State,  except  Cincinnati,  had  a  system  of  regularly 
classified  Public  Schools,  now  about  one  hundred  towns  are 
enjoying  the  benefits  of  such  schools.  But  the  interest  felt  in 
the  cause  of  education,  and  the  appreciation  of  its  benefits 
may  perhaps  be  judged  more  correctly  by  the  salaries  paid  to 
teachers  than  by  any  other  standard.  At  that  time  the  high 
est  salary  paid  to  any  teacher  of  common  schools  was  $600, 
and  it  is  believed  that  no  teacher,  out  of  Cincinnati,  received 
a  salary  of  more  than  $540.  During  the  past  year,  at  least, 
four  superintendents  and  principals  have  received  a  salary  of 
$1,500  ;  some  five  or  six  have  been  paid  $1,200  ;  some  twenty 
have  received  $1,000  or  more ;  and  a  larger  number  have  been 
paid  $600  or  more.  A  similar  increase  of  the  compensation 
of  females,  and  of  teachers  of  every  grade  has  been  made, 
though  it  is  not  possible  to  determine  the  average  salaries 


ACTION  UNDER  THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION  CONTINUED.       395 


paid  to  teachers  of  district  schools,  in  1847,  for  the  wants  of 
the  statistics. 

"  This  increase  of  compensation  to  teachers,  and  the  change 
of  public  sentiment,  which  has  caused  people  in  a  large  num 
ber  of  districts  to  pay  $100,  or  more,  per  quarter  for  the  ser 
vices  of  a  teacher  (when  several  years  since  they  were  lesa 
willing  to  pay  $-45  or  $50,  for  the  same  length  of  time),  may 
be  attributed  mainly  to  the  efforts  of  our  Association  for  the 
professional  improvement  of  Teachers;  since,  even  to  the 
present  time,  the  State  has  done  next  to  nothing  to  encourage 
this  work.  Previous  to  1847,  only  eleven  Teachers'  Institutes 
had  been  attended,  in  which  1,270  teachers  had  been  instructed ; 
during  that  year,  thirteen  were  held,  which  were  attended  by 
1,200  teachers.  Since  that  time,  an  average  of  more  than 
3,000  have  been  instructed  in  these  schools  each  year.  The 
expense  of  attending  these  sessions  of  one  week  is  not  less  than 
an  average  of  $5.00  to  each  teacher ;  multiplying  this,  by  the 
number  who  have  attended  them,  we  have  $15,000,  as  the 
lowest  estimate  of  the  sum  which  has  yearly  been  expended  in 
this  manner  by  teachers  for  their  professional  improvement." 

The  subjoined  statement  of  the  number  of  Teachers'  Insti 
tutes,  held  in  the  State  for  ten  years,  and  the  number  of  pupils 
attending  them,  may  be  appropriately  considered  in  connec 
tion  with  the  claims  made  for  the  Teachers'  Association  by 
its  Agent. 

STATISTICS  OP  TEACHERS'  INSTITUTES  IN  OHIO  FOR  TEN  YEARS. 


Dates. 

No.  Institutes. 

No.  Pupils. 

1845 

2 

240 

1846 

9 

997 

1847 

13 

569 

1848 

19 

1500 

1849 

20 

1600 

1850 

25 

2000 

1851 

41 

3251 

1852 

31 

2824 

1853 

38 

3738 

1854 

41 

2198 

Total. 

239 

18917 

396          LABORS  OF  COMMISSIONER  BARNEY. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
LABORS  OF  COMMISSIONER  BARNEY. 

THE  popular  Educational  forces  of  the  State,  when  II.  H. 
Barney  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  Commis 
sioner  of  Common  Schools,  were :  the  State  Teachers'  Asso 
ciation — a  Phonetic  Society — a  Society  for  the  Improvement 
of  the  Education  of  Girls — County  Educational  Societies, 
Teachers'  Institutes,  and  Normal  Classes. 

His  labor s,. varied  and  novel,  were,  in  many  respects,  ren 
dered  lighter  by  these  auxiliaries,  but  they  served  him  rather 
in  the  awakening  of  popular  interest  than  in  the  administra 
tion  of  the  law ;  of  which  he  was  necessarily  the  expounder, 
and  for  which  he  was  officially  the  advocate. 

His  first  report,  for  the  year  1854,  was  confined  chiefly  to 
the  statistics  of  Schools  as  reported ;  to  a  historical  outline  of 
school  progress,  and  to  arguments  for  the  new  law,  upon 
the  measures  in  which  it  differed  from,  or  reached  farther 
than,  the  statutes  it  had  repealed. 

The  important  facts  of  the  report  have  been  given  already 
in  this  work,  in  contrast  with  the  principal  items  of  school 
interest  for  1855,*  and  we  may  here  quote  from  Mr.  Barney's 
second  report,  a  paragraph  expressing  what  he  considered 
the  phrase,  "  Common  Schools,"  to  imply. 

"A  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  common  schools 
throughout  the  State,"  is  the  object  proposed  by  the  sixth 
article  of  the  constitution ;  and  it  is  an  inquiry  of  particular 
interest,  what  construction  we  shall  give  to  the  term  4  com 
mon  schools.'  In  the  infancy  of  public  provision  for  this 
object,  perhaps  a  limitation  of  the  course  of  study  to  a  few 
elementary  branches,  might  have  satisfied  public  opinion  ;  but 
in  the  progress  of  popular  instruction,  the  welfare  of  the  State 

»  See  page  246. 


LABORS   OF  COMMISSIONER   BARNEY.  397 

has  long  since  suggested  a  different  construction.  We  now 
think  and  speak  of  common  schools  as  lawyers  are  accustomed 
to  mention  the  common  law — not  as  limited  or  insignificant 
in  scope  or  importance — but  as  the  c  birthright '  of  the  youth 
of  the  commonwealth,  free  to  all  and  denied  to  none.  It  has 
become  the  laudable  purpose,  both  of  government  and  people, 
to  supply  to  the  rising  generation  from  infancy  to  majority — 
or  from  the  ages  of  five  to  twenty-one — the  opportunity  for 
mental  improvement  and  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge : 
nor,  of  course,  with  such  an  aim,  can  the  schools  of  the  people 
be  suffered  to,  fall  behind  the  cotemporary  standard  of  in 
struction. 

"  There  is  another  sense  in  which  our  public  schools  are 
common.  The  constitution  prescribes  that  cno  religious  or 
other  sect  or  sects  shall  ever  have  an  exclusive  right  to,  or 
control  of,  any  part  of  the  school  fund  in  this  State.'  Such  a 
prohibition  is  made  necessary  by  the  separation  of  church  and 
state,*  which  is  so  vital  an  element  of  our  Republican  system. 
If  government  is  properly  restrained  from  any  interference 
with  the  religious  opinions  of  the  citizen,  neither  can  the 
teacher,  who  is  the  agent  of  government  for  the  instruction  of 
youth,  exercise  any  rightful  control  of  that  nature  over  the 
pupil.  There  is  a  common  ground  of  morals,  where  men  of 
all  creeds  meet  in  harmony ;  the  law  requires  every  teacher 
to  be  a  person  of  good  moral  character ;  and  however  difficult 
to  determine  where  this  universal  agreement  of  good  men 
begins  or  ends,  yet  no  duty  is  clearer  than  that  enjoined  upon 
the  authorities  and  teachers  of  public  'schools,  under  no  cir 
cumstances  to  depart  from  a  strict  neutrality  between  religious 
sects." 

Under  these  views  Mr.  Barney  recommended  the  encourage 
ment  of  Agricultural  Schools,  and  the  support  of  Normal 
Institutes.  In  relation  to  Institutions  for  the  Instruction  of 
Teachers,  which  had  been  established  in  the  State,  he  ex 
pressed  himself  as  follows : 

"  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  add  that  Mr.  Cyrus  McNeely  of 
Hopedale,  Harrison  county,  has  donated  buildings  admirably 
adapted  for  school  purposes,  and  thus  occupied,  hitherto,  to 
the  endowment  of  Normal  Schools.  The  gift  includes  spa 
cious  and  beautiful  grounds ;  has  been  appraised  at  $11,600, 
but  is  subject  to  the  condition  that  the  State  Teachers'  Asso 
ciation  shall  raise  the  additional  sum  of  $10,000.  An  effort 
is  now  making  to  comply  with  this  condition ;  and  no  wor- 


398  LABORS   OF  COMMISSIONER   BARNEY. 

thier  object  for  the  aid  of  the  State  is  likely  to  be  presented 
for  the  consideration  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  The  McNeely  Normal  School  was  organized  by  the  elec 
tion  of  eleven  trustees,  who  have  appointed  Cyrus  McNeely 
President,  Asa  D.  Lord  Secretary,  and  George  K.  Jenkins 
Treasurer.  The  regular  course  will  occupy  two  years,  to 
enter  upon  which,  with  profit,  the  students  should  already  be 
familiar  with  the  branches  usually  taught  in  schools. 

"The  studies  of  the  first  year  are,  Eeading,  Orthography 
and  Phonetic  Analysis ;  Penmanship  and  the  Elements  of 
Drawing;  Geography,  History  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States;  English  Grammar,  and  the  Analysis  of  Words 
and  Sentences ;  Arithmetic,  Mental  and  Written,  Elements 
of  Algebra ;  Physiology  and  the  Laws  of  Health ;  Natural 
History  and  Botany ;  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy, 
Elementary  Geometry  and  Mensuration. 

"The  studies  of  the  second  year,  are  Language,  its  History 
and  the  Various  Modes  of  Analysis ;  Physical  Geography 
and  Meteorology ;  Geology  and  Mineralogy ;  Chemistry, 
Geometry  and  Trigonometry;  Universal  History;  Mental 
and  Moral  Philosophy ;  Natural  Theology ;  Evidences  of 
Christianity ;  Logic,  Rhetoric,  Elements  of  Criticism. 

"An  Academic  Department  will  also  be  sustained;  and 
arrangements  are  making  for  an  Experimental  School,  in 
which  the  children  of  the  village  of  Ilopedale  may  be  taught 
by  the  pupil-teachers.  The  school  year  of  the  Institution  con 
sists  of  forty  weeks,  and  the  price  of  tuition  is  $20  in  the 
Academic,  and  $30  in  the  Normal  Department. 

"  A  similar  enterprise  has  been  undertaken  at  Lebanon, 
Warren  county,  under  the  designation  of  the  '  Southwestern 
State  Normal  School.'  Mr.  Alfred  Holbrook,  with  five  as 
sistants,  are  announced  as  teachers.  The  organization  resulted 
from  a  general  concert  of  action  among  those  engaged  in  the 
instruction  of  youth,  and  is  auxiliary  to  the  Ohio  State  Teach 
ers'  Association — a  very  favorable  location,  and  commodious 
buildings  have  been  already  secured — the  first  session  has 
elapsed  with  seventy  pupils  in  attendance,  and  all  the,  indica 
tions  of  future  usefulness  are  very  satisfactory.  The  terms 
are  so  arranged  that  while  some  young  persons  can  pursue  a 
regular  course  of  training,  study  and  practice  in  an  experi 
mental  school,  others,  already  engaged  as  teachers,  can,  during 
the  interims  of  their  own  schools,  attend  a  session  of  eleven 
weeks,  more  or  less,  without  interfering  with  those  pursuing 
a  regular  course  of  study,  the  latter  being  not  unlike  what 
is  prescribed  at  the  MoXeely  Institution!  This  temporary 


LABORS   OF  COMMISSIONER   BAKNEY. 

arrangement  gives  opportunity  for  teachers  permanently  en 
gaged,  to  adjust  the  terms  of  their  own  schools  so  as  to  attend 
a  part  or  whole  of  a  session  of  eleven  weeks  at  the  Normal 
School ;  while  others,  not  permanently  engaged,  can  enter  the 
Normal  School  at  any  time  that  may  suit  their  convenience, 
and,  after  devoting  a  reasonable  period  to  special  preparation, 
will  doubtless  find  full  compensation  for  the  expense  in  the 
more  ready  demand  for  their  services.  The  organization  of 
the  'Southwestern  State  Normal  School'  seems  to  be  well 
considered,  and  is  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  the  public." 

His  appeals  to  the  people  and  his  arguments  to  the 
Legislature,  Mr.  Barney  based  upon  the  following  proposi 
tions,  which  he  claimed  to  be  among  the  various  means  and 
plans,  that  had  been  fully  tested  and  approved  by  enlightened 
Educationists,  for  rendering  school  systems  efficient: 

"  1.  Each  city,  town,  incorporated  village,  and  civil  township, 
should  compose  but  a  single  school  district,  and  the 
schools  thereof  be  confided  to  the  management  and 
control  of  a  properly  constituted  Board  of  Education. 

"2.  Properly  constructed  school-houses,  occupying  eligible 

sites,  and  possessing  ample  play  grounds. 
"  3.  "Well  educated,  efficient  and  devoted  teachers. 
"4.  Great  care  and  thoroughness  in  the  examination  of 

teachers. 
"  5.  Normal  Schools  organized  and  conducted  with  reference 

to  the  sole  and  definite  object  of  instructing  in  the  art 

of  teaching. 

"  6.  Properly  managed  Teachers'  Institutes,  Teachers'  Meet 
ings,  and  the  formation  of  Teachers'  Associations. 

"  7.  Competent  visiting  agents  charged  with  the  important 
duty  of  organizing  and  superintending  Teachers'  In 
stitutes,  delivering  educational  addresses,  and  suggest 
ing  to  teachers,  in  their  own  schools,  the  best  manner 
of  instructing  classes. 

"  8.  A  system  of  vigilant  and  thorough  supervision. 

"9.  Teaching  but  few  subjects  at  one  time,  and  teaching 
them  thoroughly. 

"10.  A  judicious  course  of  study  and  oral  exercises  for  each 
class,  department,  and  grade  of  the  school. 

"11.  A  uniform  series  of  class  or  text-books,  and  a  strict 
adherence  to  it  for  a  reasonable  length  of  time. 


400  LABORS  OF  COMMISSIONER  BARNEY. 

"  12.  Judicious  efforts  on  the  part  of  teachers,  parents  and 
school  officers,  to  induce  all  the  youth  of  suitable  age, 
resident  within  the  district,  to  attend  the  schools. 

"  13.  Unremitting  efforts  to  secure  regularity  of  attendance. 

"  14.  The  active  and  zealous  co-operation  of  parents  and 
school  officers. 

*'  15.  Maps,  charts,  diagrams,  globes,  and  other  illustrative 
apparatus,  for  common  schools,  and  chemical  and 
philosophical  apparatus  for  high  schools. 

"  16.  School  district,  or  township  libraries. 

"  17.  The  introduction  of  the  system  of  gradation  to  the 
greatest  practicable  extent. 

"18.  The  establishment  of  high  schools  and  high  school 
departments. 

"19.  The  education  of  youth  at  schools  in  their  own  neigh 
borhood  or  township. 

"  20.  The  education  of  both  sexes  at  the  same  school,  pro 
vided  they  can  board  at  home,  while  attending  it." 

These  propositions  the  Commissioner  explained  and  en 
forced  so  amply  and  clearly,  that  his  report  for  1855  must 
long  be  regarded,  by  educational  men,  as  among  the  most 
valuable  documents  upon  free  schools,  published  by  our  own, 
or  any  other  State 

Neither  in  his  First  nor  Second  report,  did  Mr.  Barney 
especially  describe  his  own  labors,  nor  record  his  observa 
tions  ;  but  in  the  report  for  1856  we  find  the  following: 

"  During  the  past  school  year  I  have  visited  forty  counties, 
lectured  before  seventy-one  educational  meetings,  and  visited 
a  large  number  of  schools.  From  my  school  visits,  con 
ferences  with  county  auditors  and  other  school  officers,  and 
from  my  observations  generally,  I  have  seen  abundant  and 
unmistakable  indications  of  the  steadily  increasing  popularity 
of  our  present  school  system. 

"  The  conviction  seems  to  be  gradually  settling  down  upon 
the  public  mind,  that  our  present  school  law,  with  a  few 
slight  changes  and  modifications,  would  compare  favorably 
with  the  school  law  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 

"Within  the  last  six  months  I  have  visited  schools  in 
several  of  the  States,  and  endeavored  to  make  myself  thor 
oughly  acquainted  with  the  general  educational  system 
in  them  all.  From  these  observations,  as  well  as 


LABORS    OF   COMMISSIONER    BARNEY.  401 

from  the  admissions  made  by  a  large  number  of  the  leading 
educationists  of  those  States,  I  am  fully  convinced  that  not 
one  of  those  systems,  as  a  whole,  is  superior  to  our  own. 
Indeed,  it  was  often  conceded  that  our  system,  taken  aa  a 
theory,  possessed  many  advantages  over  their  own.  Among 
these  advantages,  the  provision  for  supplying  the  people  with 
libraries  and  the  schools  with  maps,  charts,  globes,  and  other 
illustrative  apparatus  ;  the  making  of  each  city,  incorporated 
village  and  township  a  single  district  for  all  purposes  con 
nected  with  the  general  interests  of  education ;  the  annual 
levy  and  assessment  of  one  and  a  half  mills  upon  the  dollar 
valuation  on  the  grand  list  of  the  taxable  property  of  the 
State,  and  the  distribution  of  the  school  funds  thus  raised,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  afford  the  advantages  of  free  education 
to  all  the  youth  of  this  State,  were  particularly  referred  to 
and  commended.  The  flexibility  of  our  school  system  was 
also  spoken  of  as  an  admirable  feature,  and  worthy  of  being 
introduced,  as  it  has  been,  into  the  system  of  other  States. 

"This  excellent  feature  in  our  system  is  too  often  over 
looked,  or  not  duly  appreciated.  Hence  it  sometimes  hap 
pens,  that  the  people  in  certain  localities  complain  of  a  want 
of  efficiency  in  the  system,  and  that  too,  before  they  have 
availed  themselves  of  the  privileges  and  advantages  which  it 
offers.  The  fact  is  too  frequently  overlooked  that,  if  the  pro 
visions  of  the  general  school  law  are  not  satisfactory,  they 
possess  ample  power  to  become  organized  as  to  schools  under 
the  'act  for  the  support  and  better  regulation  of  common 
schools  in  the  town  of  Akron,'  passed  February  8,  1847,  and 
the  acts  amendatory  thereto  ;  or  the  4  act  for  the  better  regu 
lation  of  schools  in  cities,  towns,  etc.,'  passed  February  21, 
1849,  and  the  acts  amendatory  thereto.  Again,  if  the  people 
of  any  city,  town  or  incorporated  village,  organize  as  to 
schools  under  either  of  the  above  acts,  or  under  any  other  act 
creating  a  special  school  district,  sec.  66  of  the  general  school 
act,  confers  upon  them  the  power  of  relinquishing  their 
organization  under  those  special  acts,  and  of  having  their 
schools  conducted  and  managed  in  accordance  with  the  pro 
visions  of  the  general  act. 

"By  the  provisions  contained  in  sections  14  and  15,  the 
Board  of  Education  of  any  township  in  the  State  may,  if  the 
best  interests  of  education  and  the  wishes  of  the  people 
demand  it,  unite  two  or  more  populous  sub-districts  into  one, 
and  establish  therein  such  number  of  primary  schools,  and  a 
school  of  such  higher  grade,  as  the  public  good  and  the  wants 
of  the  people  may  require ;  or  the  board  may  establish  one 
26 


402  LABORS    OF   COMMISSIONER    BARNEY. 

high  school  for  the  entire  township,  whenever  the  qualified 
voters  thereof  shall  so  determine  by  their  votes,  at  a  meeting 
called  for  the  purpose,  as  provided  in  section  21. 

"  The  foregoing  provisions,  together  with  the  power  vested 
in  the  people,  through  their  boards  of  education,  to  raise 
funds,  by  a  township  tax,  for  the  purpose  of  prolonging  their 
schools,  would  seem  to  afford  all  the  educational  privileges 
that  could  reasonably  be  desired. 

"  It  is  to  be  regretted  that,  in  some  cases,  township  boards 
of  education  have  either  misapprehended  or  disregarded  their 
duties,  and  neglected  to  make  the  necessary  provisions  for 
continuing  the  schools  in  operation  in  their  respective  town 
ships  for  the  length  of  time  which  the  law  requires,  and 
which  the  inhabitants  of  the  sub-districts  desired.  But  this 
neglect  is  not  so  much  the  fault  of  the  law  as  that  of  the 
people,  in  failing  to  elect  those  who,  with  intelligence  and 
zeal,  would  carry  the  law  into  full  and  effective  operation. 
The  best  school  law  which  human  wisdom  could  devise, 
would  require  enlightened  and  earnest  school  officers  to  work 
it,  otherwise  it  would  not  secure  its  full  measure  of  benefit  to 
the  people.  No  law  can  work  or  execute  itself,  or  raise  up, 
as  by  magic,  wise  and  discreet  officers  where  none  can  be 
found,  or  where  the  electors  fail  to  exercise  reasonable  discre 
tion,  or  manifest  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  selection  of 
those  who  are  to  administer  the  law.  A  good  law  can  not 
effect  a  good  work  unless  it  be  well  executed. 

"It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  state  that,  wherever  the 
people  have  been  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  competent  school 
officers,  and  zealously  co-operated  with  them  in  carrying  the 
law  into  efficient  operation,  the  schools  have  risen  to  a  degree 
of  excellence  far  above  what  they  ever  attained  under  any 
former  school  law.  In  all  such  localities  the  present  law  is 
highly  popular ;  for  a  fair  trial  of  its  adaptation  to  the  char 
acter,  spirit  and  educational  wants  of  the  times,  has  fully  dis 
closed  its  merits,  and  justified  its  claims  for  the  support  of  all 
those  who  believe  that  a  wisely  matured  and  judiciously  orga 
nized  system  of  public  instruction  is,  under  a  government  like 
ours,  an  essential  agent  of  civilization,  and  especially  of  that 
modern  republican,  democratic  civilization  which  professes  to 
aim  at  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number;  and  who 
also  believe  that  education,  thorough,  systematic  and  univer 
sal,  is  almost  the  only  means  by  which  all  the  rich  and  varied 
blessings  of  our  free  institutions  can  be  preserved  and  perpe 
tuated  ;  and  that  it  is  only  under  the  guidance  of  knowledge 
that  man's  intellectual  and  moral  powers  can  be  duly  devel- 


LABOES  OF  COMMISSIONER  BAKNEY.  403 

oped,  wisely  applied,  and  himself  prepared  for  the  full  enjoy 
ment  of  this  improved  civilization. 

"It  is  also  encouraging  and  cheering  to  the  heart  of  every 
true  patriot,  every  sincere  philanthropist,  to  be  able  to  assure 
the  friends  of  free  schools  that  it  is  fast  becoming  the  univer 
sal  public  sentiment  of  the  intelligent,  reflecting,  philanthropic 
portion  of  the  people  of  this  State  that,  to  withhold  from  the 
children  of  the  State  that  intellectual  arid  moral  training  which 
would  give  them  the  full  command  of  every  faculty,  both  of 
body  and  mind,  which  would  call  into  play  their  powers  of 
observation  and  reflection,  and  give  them  objects  of  pursuit 
and  habits  of  conduct  favorable  to  their  own  happiness,  would 
be  to  deny  them  access  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  best  and 
noblest  influences  supplied  by  Christianity — by  science  and 
the  arts ;  that  every  child  has  the  most  undoubted  right  to 
demand  at  the  hands  of  the  State  the  establishment  and  main 
tenance  of  such  a  system  of  public  schools  as  would  give  him 
a  place  where  his  mental  and  bodily  powers,  his  manners  and 
morals  could  be  trained  up  to  a  healthful,  vigorous  and  grace 
ful  activity,  and  the  proper  foundation  be  laid  to  make  him  a 
thinking,  reasonable  being,  an  enlightened,  virtuous  citizen  ; 
that  it  is  the  duty,  as  well  as  the  noblest  privilege  of  the  legis 
lature  to  establish  a  system  of  public  schools  on  such  a  broad 
and  liberal  foundation  that  the  same  advantages,  without 
being  abridged  or  denied  to  the  children  of  the  rich,  may  be 
open  at  the  same  time  to  the  children  of  the  poorest  and  hum 
blest  parent ;  that  select  or  private  schools,  on  account  of 
their  expense,  being  accessible  only  to  the  children  of  the 
more  wealthy,  must,  on  that  account,  always  cause  invidious 
distinctions  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  which  ought  not 
to  exist  anywhere,  and  especially  in  our  own  country,  because, 
destined  as  all  are  to  meet  on  the  broad  field  of  competition, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  labor  together  for  the  common  weal, 
it  is  unwise  to  separate  them  in  early  life,  and  to  make  our 
schools,  which  ought  to  be  so  many  bonds  of  union,  the  occa 
sions  of  jealousy  and  inequality  of  privileges. 

"  Indeed,  it  is  rare  to  find  a  city,  village,  township,  or  even 
school  district,  in  the  State,  in  which  the  doctrine  is  not  earn 
estly  and  intelligently  advocated,  i  that  education  is  a  concern 
of  government ;  that  government  may  ofrigJit,  and  is  in  duty 
~bound  to  support  it,  and  that  the  property  of  the  State  may 
be  justly  taxed  for  that  support,  on  account  of  the  protection 
which  that  property  itself  derives  from  the  dissemination  of 
intelligence  through  all  classes  of  society.'  The  former 
theory,  fc  that  the  cost  of  education  should  be  regarded  as 


404  LABORS  OF  COMMISSIONER  BARNEY. 

mainly  a  personal  burden,  which  every  man  should  bear  for 
the  education  of  his  offspring,  or  else  they  should  be  doomed 
to  go  out  into  the  world  ignorant  and  degraded,'  now  finds 
very  few  advocates  in  any  section  of  our  State.  The  great 
mass  of  the  people  now  believe  that  free  common  schools, 
occupying  commodious,  well  furnished,  warmed,  and  venti 
lated  houses,  supervised  by  a  discreet,  efficient  board  of  school 
officers,  and  instructed  by  teachers  of  sound  education,  mature 
judgment  and  large  experience,  should  be  considered  as  the 
peculiar  objects  of  legislative  care. 

"  From  their  universality,  reaching  as  they  do  every  neigh 
borhood,  shedding  their  benign  influence  upon  every  family, 
and  into  every  mind,  expelling  the  primary  causes  of  vice 
and  crime,  and  erecting  altars  to  patriotism  and  virtue,  freo 
schools  ought  to  be  cherished,  supported,  and  defended,  by 
every  man  who  has  property  to  be  protected,  or  who  would 
live  in  a  peaceable  neighborhood,  or  enjoy  a  quiet  home. 

"  It  affords  me  great  satisfaction  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
fact  that,  wherever  i  traveled,  and  wherever  I  visited  schools, 
or  lectured,  whether  in  city,  village,  or  rural  district,  I  never 
failed  to  find  earnest,  faithful,  enlightened,  eloquent  advocates 
for  the  noble  cause  of  free  popular  education.  Among  states 
men,  lawyers,  physicians,  clergymen,  farmers,  mechanics  and 
merchants,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  finding  those  who  were 
ready  to  proclaim  from  the  house-tops  and  the  hill-tops,  in  the 
eloquent  language  of  an  eminent  jurist  and  statesman, — 'The 
idea  of  universal,  free  education  is  the  grand  central  idea  of 
the  age.'  Upon  this  broad  and  comprehensive  basis,  all  the 
experience  of  the  past,  all  the  crowding  phenomena  of  the 
present,  and  all  our  hopes  and  aspirations  for  the  future,  must 
rest.  Our  forefathers  have  transmitted  to  us  a  noble  inherit 
ance  of  national,  intellectual,  moral  and  religious  freedom. 
They  have  confided  our  destiny,  as  a  people,  to  our  own 
hands. 

"  Upon  our  individual  and  combined  intelligence,  virtue, 
and  patriotism,  rests  the  solution  of  the  great  problem  of  self- 
government.  We  should  be  untrue  to  ourselves,  untrue  to 
the  memory  of  our  statesmen  and  patriots,  untrue  to  the  cause 
of  liberty,  of  civilization  and  humanity,  if  we  neglected  the 
assiduous  cultivation  of  those  means  by  which  alone  we  can 
secure  the  realization  of  the  hopes  we  have  excited.  Those 
means  are  the  universal  education  of  our  future  citizens, 
without  discrimination  or  distinction.  Wherever,  in  our 
midst,  a  human  being  exists,  with  capacities  and  faculties  to 
be  developed,  improved,  cultivated,  and  directed,  the  avenues 


LABORS    OF   COMMISSIONER    BARNEY.  4:05 

of  knowledge  should  be  freely  opened,  and  every  facility 
afforded  to  their  unrestricted  entrance.  Ignorance  should  no 
more  be  countenanced  than  vice  and  crime.  The  one  leads 
almost  inevitably  to  the  other.  Banish  ignorance,  and  in  its 
stead  introduce  intelligence,  science,  knowledge,  and  increas 
ing  wisdom  and  enlightenment,  and  you  remove,  in  most 
cases,  all  those  incentives  to  idleness,  vice,  and  crime,  which 
now  produce  such  a  frightful  harvest  of  retribution,  misery, 
and  wretchedness.  Educate  every  child,  4to  the  top  of  his 
faculties,'  and  you  not  only  secure  the  community  against  the 
depredations  of  the  ignorant  and  the  criminal,  but  you  bestow 
upon  it,  instead,  productive  artisans,  good  citizens,  upright 
jurors  and  magistrates,  enlightened  statesmen,  scientific  dis 
coverers  and  inventors,  and  dispensers  of  a  pervading  influ 
ence  in  favor  of  honesty,  virtue,  and  true  goodness.  Educate 
every  child  physically,  morally,  and  intellectually,  from  the 
age  of  four  to  twenty-one,  and  many  of  your  prisons,  peniten 
tiaries,  and  almshouses,  will  be  converted  into  schools  of 
industry  and  temples  of  science ;  and  the  immense  amount 
now  contributed  for  their  maintenance  and  support,  will  be 
diverted  into  far  more  profitable  channels.  Educate  every 
child — not  superficially — not  partially — but  thoroughly ;  de 
velop  equally  and  healthfully  every  faculty  of  his  nature — 
every  capability  of  his  being — and  you  infuse  a  new  and 
invigorating  element  into  the  very  life-blood  of  civilization — 
an  element  which  will  diffuse  itself  throughout  every  vein 
and  artery  of  the  social  and  political  system,  purifying, 
strengthening  and  regenerating  all  its  impulses,  elevating  its 
aspirations,  and  clothing  it  with  a  power  equal  to  every 
demand  upon  its  vast  energies  and  resources. 

"  These  are  some  of  the  results  which  must  follow  in  the 
train  of  a  wisely  matured  and  judiciously  organized  system 
of  universal  education.  They  are  not  imaginary,  but  sober 
inductions  from  well  authenticated  facts — deliberate  conclu 
sions  from  established  principles,  sanctioned  by  the  concur 
rent  testimony  of  experienced  educators  and  eminent  states 
men  and  philanthropists.  If  names  are  needed  to  enforce  the 
lesson  they  teach,  those  of  Washington,  and  Franklin,  and 
Hamilton,  and  Jefferson,  and  Clinton,  with  a  long  array  of 
patriots  and  Statesmen,  may  be  cited.  If  facts  are  required 
to  illustrate  the  connection  between  ignorance  and  crime,  let 
the  official  return  of  convictions  in  the  several  courts  of  the 
State  for  the  last  ten  years  be  examined,  and  the  instructive 
lesson  be  heeded.  Out  of  nearly  28,000  persons  convicted 
of  crime,  but  118  had  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  a  good  common 


406  LABORS    OF   COMMISSIONER   BARNEY. 

school  education ;  414  only  had  what  the  returning  officers 
characterize  as  a  '  tolerable'  share  of  learning ;  and  of  the 
residue,  about  one-half  only  could  either  read  or  write.  Let 
similar  statistics  be  gathered  from  the  wretched  inmates  of 
our  poor-house  establishments,  and  similar  results  would 
undoubtedly  be  developed.  Is  it  not,  therefore,  incomparably 
better,  as  a  mere  prudential  question  of  political  economy,  to 
provide  ample  means  for  the  education  of  the  whole  com 
munity,  and  to  bring  those  means  within  the  reach  of  every 
child,  than  to  impose  a  much  larger  tax  for  the  protection  of 
that  community  against  the  depredations  of  the  ignorant,  the 
idle,  and  the  vicious,  and  for  the  support  of  the  imbecile,  the 
thoughtless,  and  intemperate? 

u  The  plan  of  educating  the  youth  of  our  State  at  public 
schools,  open  and  free  to  all,  without  distinction  between  the 
rich  and  poor,  the  high  and  the  low,  the  native  and  foreign, 
is  most  in  keeping  with  our  republican  principles,  and  best 
adapted  to  promote  the  perpetuity  of  the  happy  form  of  gov 
ernment  under  which  it  is  our  good  fortune  to  live.  It  also 
furnishes  one  of  the  best  securities  to  the  fortunate  wealthy 
for  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  their  possessions,  while  it 
cxti-iuls  the  blessings  of  education  to  thousands  who  otherwise 
would  be  doomed  to  live  in  ignorance,  perhaps  in  vice  and 
crime. 

"  Every  consideration,  therefore,  connected  with  the  present 
and  future  welfare  of  the  community  —  every  dictate  of  en 
lightened  humanity — every  impulse  of  an  enlarged  and  com 
prehensive  spirit  of  philanthropy,  combine  in  favor  of  the 
adoption  of  this  great  principle.  Public  sentiment  is  every 
where  pronouncing  in  its  favor.  The  new  States  which, 
within  the  past  few  years  have  been  added  to  the  confederacy, 
have  adopted  it  as  the  basis  of  their  system  of  public  instruc 
tion  ;  and  the  older  States,  as  one  by  one 'they  are  reconstruct 
ing  their  fundamental  laws  and  constitutions,  are  engrailing 
the  same  principles  upon  their  institutions.  Surely,  then,  iii 
this  noble  enterprise  of  universal  free  education,  Ohio  should 
not  retrace  her  steps,  nor  disappoint  the  high  hopes  which  she 
has  excited,  by  receding  from  the  advanced  position  which 
she  now  occupies  in  the  very  van  of  the  great  educational 
movement  of  the  age. 

"  The  meritorious  character  of  her  present  school  system, 
its  adaptation  to  supply  the  educational  wants  of  the  times, 
the  numerous  schools  of  high  order  now  rapidly  springing 
up  in  every  quarter,  the  deep  and  abiding  interest  in  the 
cause  of  popular  education,  everywhere  manifested  by  her 


LABORS  OF  COMMISSIONER  BARNEY.  407 

citizens,  are  the  subjects  of  warm  and  frequent  encomiums, 
even  in  those  States  which  have  been  longest  distinguished 
for  the  excellence  of  their  schools,  and  for  the  hearty  and 
enlightened  zeal  exhibited  in  so  many  commendable  ways,  in 
behalf  of  popular  education.  One  can  hardly  visit  a  school 
or  converse  with  a  school  officer,  in  any  of  the  middle  or  east 
ern  States,  without  having  his  ears  greeted  and  his  heart 
cheered  with  such  declarations  as  the  following,  viz :  '  Ohio 
is  doing  a  noble  work  in  the  matter  of  free  schools.'  'She 
is  outstripping  all  her  sister  States  in  this  beneficent  enter 
prise.'  '  Her  statesmen,  her  teachers,  and  her  friends  of  edu 
cation  generally,  have  performed  a  work  which  will  forever 
illustrate  the  pride  and  the  glory  of  her  history.'  '  The  career 
of  Ohio  in  all  those  elements  which  go  to  make  up  the  essen 
tial  wealth,  prosperity  and  greatness  of  a  people,  has  been  one 
of  wonderful  progress,  manifesting  the  enterprise  and  public 
spirit  of  her  people,  and  the  wisdom  of  her  far-seeing  states 
men.'  '  The  people  of  Ohio,  acting  upon  the  principle  that 
knowledge  is  power,  and  that  knowledge  and  wisdom  are 
ultimately  to  be  the  stability  of  our  times,  are  taking  away 
from  us  our  pre-eminence  in  this  respect;  and  unless  we 
redouble  our  diligence,  zeal  and  efforts  in  the  great  work  of 
educational  improvement,  we  shall  soon  be  obliged  to  say, 
'farewell  self-respect,  farewell  the  rich  rewards  of  large 
intelligence  and  well-cultured  minds ;  the  age  will  pass  us 
by,  and  we,  who  have  led  the  wray,  and  who  have  still  the 
first  advantages  for  success,  will  be  distanced  in  the  race, 
stripped  of  our  crown,  and  deprived  of  our  true  glory.' " 

These  encouraging  paragraphs  were  succeeded  by  sugges 
tions  upon  the  workings  of  the  School  Law,  with  argu 
ments  in  favor  of  a  few  modifications,  chief  among  which 
were  the  introduction  of  Township,  for  District  Libraries — 
the  making  of  each  Township  a  single  District,  and  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  Board  of  School  Library  Commissioners,  con 
sisting  of  the  Governor,  State  Auditor,  Librarian,  and  Com 
missioner. 

After  quoting  so  liberally  from  the  Commissioner's  last 
report,  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  any  general  remarks  upon  the 
character  of  our  School  System,  or  the  estimation  in  which  it 
is  held  ;  and  we  at  once  invite  a  comparison  of  the  statistics 
in  the  following  statement,  with  those  which,  in  tabular  form, 
have  preceded  it. 


408 


LABORS    OF   COMMISSIONER    BARNEY. 


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LABORS    OF    COMMISSIONER    BARNEY.  409 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  statement,  the  following  statis 
tics,  reported  for  1856,  from  all  but  three  counties  of  the  State, 
Adams,  Brown  and  Henry,  are  important  and  interesting, 
because  they  show  the  relative  number,  cost,  etc.  of  the  schools 
of  different  grades : 

NUMBER   OF   SCHOOLS, 

Common 11,076 

High 97 

German,  or  German  and  English 58 

For  colored  youth 88 

Total 11,319 

NUMBER   OF    YOUTH    ENROLLED    IN    THE    SCHOOLS. 

Males.  Females.  Total. 

In  the  common  schools 290,784  254,078  544,862 

"       high              "       4,225  4,329  8,554 

"       trerman,  or  Ger.  and  English    1,977  1,625  3,602 

"       schools  for  colored  youth...     2,240  2,057  4,297 

Total 299,226        262,089        561,315 


NUMBER  OF  YOUTH  IN  AVERAGE  DAILY  ATTENDANCE. 

Males.  Females.  Total. 

In  the  common  schools 166,675  145,686  312,361 

"       high              "       3,012  3,183  6,195 

"       German  and  English 1,106  837  1,943 

"       colored 1,084  1,060  2,144 

Total 171,877  150,766  322,643 


AVERAGE    LENGTH    OF    TIME    THE    SCHOOLS    WERE    KEPT    OPEN. 

Common  schools 6  l-10th  months. 

High  "       9  l-5th 

German,  or  German  and  English 6  l-10th       " 

Schools  for  colored  youth 5  4-5ths        " 


410 


LABORS    OF    COMMISSIONER    BARNEY. 


NUMBER    OF    TEACHERS    EMPLOYED. 

Males.  Females.  Total. 

In  the  common  schools 9,235  8,248  17,483 

"      high 102  78  180 

"       German  and  English 43  7  50 

"       colored  schools    69  31  100 

Total 9,449  8,364          17,813 

AVERAGE   WAGES,    PER   MONTH,    PAID   TEACHERS. 

Males.  Females. 

In  the  common  schools    $26.70  .^  1  :>.''•  •> 

"       high                 «       57.30  30.63 

"        German  and  English  schools 30.83  30.00 

"       colored  schools ". 25.73  20.00 

EXPENDITURES   OF    SCHOOL    MONEY. 

Amount  of  Taxes  levied  and  collected  in  the  townships,  cities  and 
incorporated  villages,  as  stated  in  the  reports  of  boards  of  education. 

For  purchasing  school-house  sites $  15^015  46 

Building  and  furnishing  school-houses 441,527  23 

Hiring  school-houses -8,954  77 

Repairing  school-houses 53,655  77 

Providing  fuel,  etc 44,235  69 

Providing  book  and  apparatus  cases 2,706  78 

Other  contingent  school  expenses 93,983  18 

Prolonging  schools 394,453  48 

Sustaining  high  schools 12,259  86 

Total 1,066,762  22 

Whole  amount  of  money  paid  for  teachers'  wages,  in  the  several  citie^ 
townships  and  incorporated  villages,  from  which  reports  were  received  : 


Males. 

In  the  common  schools  $947,860  15 
"      high  56,464  26 

4t      German  and  English  7,958  93 
"      colored  10.928  95 


Females. 

$503,190  36 

22,843  48 

1,794  80 

3,366  31 


Total. 

$1,451,050  51 

79,307  74 

9,753  73 

14,295  26 


Total 1,023,212  29        531,194  95       1,554,407  24 

Whole  amount  of  money  received,  during  the  year  ending  August  31st, 
1856,  by  the  Boards  of  Education  of  the  several  townships,  cities,  and  in- 
corjwrated  villages  in  the  State,  as  reported  : 


LABORS    OF   COMMISSIONER    BARNEY.  41 

From  the  State  school  tax $1,113,918  85 

Kents  or  sale  of  "  section  16"    124,208  42 

Virginia  Military  School  Fund 7,105  66 

United  States             "         "      6,507  88 

Western  Eeserve  School  Fund     12,113  60 

Taxes  assessed  for  the  purpose  of  prolonging 
schools,  building,  repairing  and  furnishing 
school-houses,  and  for  other  contingent  school 

expenses 441,334  52 

Peddlers'  and  auctioneers'  licenses  and  auction 

duties 609  24 

Fines  and  penalties 4,303  63 

Exhibition  licenses .' 715  86 

Miscellaneous  sources 70,198  41 

Unappropriated  funds  of  previous  year 319,847  85 

Total $2,100,863  92 

Whole  number  of  school-houses  in  the  State 

as  reported 8,144 

Total  value $3,270,691  00 

NUMBER   OF    SCHOLARS    INSTRUCTED   IN    THE   VARIOUS   BRANCHES 
DURING   THE   YEAR. 

In  the  Alphabet 42,448 

Spelling 270,745 

Beading 299,002 

Penmanship 249,922 

The  principles  of  Orthography 277,339 

Mental  Arithmetic 82,640 

Written       "         166,665 

Geography     90,784 

English  Grammar 63,414 

Physiology    2,571 

Map  Drawing   9,023 

Composition 15,201 

Declamation      23?909 

The  Elements  of  Drawing 2,496 

Vocal  Music 26,070 

History 5,824 

Algebra 5,790 

Goemetry 934 

Natural  Philosophy 1,167 

Moral            "  276 


412  LABORS    OF   COMMISSIONER    BARNEY. 

Mental  Philosophy    212 

Chemistry 514 

Rhetoric 404 

Astronomy 655 

Geology 297 

Zoology 155 

Latin 675 

Greek 113 

German 903 

French 180 

Book  Keeping 63 

Botany 53 

Uranography ' 40 

Natural  History 20 

Butler's  Analogy 10 

Trigonometry 5 

Surveying 1 

LIBRARY   FUND. 

Library  and  apparatus  fund  apportioned  *  in  1854, $55,903.45 

."  1855 80,573.75 

"  "  "  1856, 83,811.18 


Total, $220,288.38 

Value  of  books  distributed  in  1854  f, $  48,367.42 

"  "  "  1855, 102,427.61 

"  "  "  1856, 51,430.90 


Total, $202,225.33 

Value  of  apparatus  distributed  in  1854, $6,347.87 

"  "  "  1855, 9,555.23 

"  "  1856 3,514.67 


Total, $19,417.77 

Total  number  of  volumes  distributed  in  1854-5-6 332,579 

Total  value  of  books  and  apparatus  distributed  in  1854-5-6,    $221,643.60 

Adding  together  certain  columns  of  the  Tabular  statements 
which  Jiave  been  given  in  these  pages,  produces  the  following: 

*By  the  State  Auditor.  fBy  the  Commissioner. 


LABORS    OF    COMMISSIONER   BARNEY.  413 

AGGREGATE    OF    SCHOOL    ITEMS  OF   GENEEAL    INTEREST    FOR    TWENTY 
TEARS,   AS    REPORTED. 

No.  of  Children  enrolled $4,098,437 

No.  of  Teachers  employed 158,623 

Amount  paid  Teachers $8,897,888 

No.  of  School-houses  built 9,718 

Cost  of     "  "         "     $2,385,706 

Comparing  the  school  statistics  as  reported  with  the  esti 
mates  by  Superintendents,  at  different  periods,  it  is  fair  to 
conclude  that  the  aggregates  above  presented,  might  at  least 
be  doubled  without  doing  violence  to  truth.  Thus  considered, 
they  show,  from  the  past,  encouragement  for  the  future. 

The  people  of  Ohio  have  just  pride  in,  and  active  love  for, 
their  School  System.  With  the  instrumentalities  for  the 
awakening  of  Educational  interest  * — with  the  facilities  for 
affording  instruction  to  Teachers,  which  popular  efforts  have 
secured,  and  with  the  support  given  by  the  State  to  Common 
Schools  f —  a  support  which  is  in  no  respect  more  liberal, 
in  no  degree  more  ample,  than  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
demands  and  their  highest  interest  requires — Ohio  now  occu 
pies,  and  will  maintain,  a  position  which,  the  brief  period  of 
her  history  as  a  State  considered,  is  not  second,  in  an  edu 
cational  point  of  view,  to  that  of  any  State  of  the  Union. 

*  Among  which  the  general  support  of  the  newspaper  and  periodical 
press  is  to  be  included,  as  well  as  the  Journal  of  Education,  continued  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Teachers'  Association,  with  John  D.  Caldwell  as  Editor. 

f  A  prominent  feature  of  which  is  the  office  of  School  Commissioner, 
now  filled  by  Rev.  Anson  Smyth. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  axe  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


REC'D  LD 

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